78
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanI, Daniel Blake is one of Loach’s finest films, a drama of tender devastation that tells its story with an unblinking neorealist simplicity that goes right back to the plainspoken purity of Vittorio De Sica.
- 91The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorIt’s often warm and quite funny, but is, at heart, a damning critique of the Tory government in Britain and their belt-tightening austerity measures, as well as a rallying cry for those who fall through the cracks.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawThe story is told with stark and fierce plainness: unadorned, unapologetic, even unevolved. Loach’s movie offends against the tacitly accepted rules of sophisticated good taste: subtlety, irony and indirection.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe film is anchored by incisive characterizations rich in integrity and heart, and by an urgent simplicity in its storytelling that's surprisingly powerful.
- 80CineVueJohn BleasdaleCineVueJohn BleasdaleFollowing the disappointing period dalliance of Jimmy's Hall, Ken Loach's latest I, Daniel Blake is something of a return to form. It stands as a succinct and furious raging against the dying of the light, or more accurately the snuffing of the light by a privatised and punitive system more intent on lowering the figures than caring for those in need.
- 75The PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicThe PlaylistNikola GrozdanovicThe biggest lesson to take away from I, Daniel Blake is how a movie doesn’t have to be psychologically complex or cinematically dazzling to dig beyond its surface. It’s rudimentary in terms of technique, but how the film generates its power is through the themes of humanity and kindness at its center.
- 60The TelegraphRobbie CollinThe TelegraphRobbie CollinWhile it too often sands the complications off what you sense should feel like an uncomfortably splintery issue, in its best moments, it’s a quietly fearsome piece of drama.
- 50Slant MagazineSam C. MacSlant MagazineSam C. MacIt's pock-marked by the conservative dramatic conventions and broad political gestures that have marred much of Ken Loach's recent output.