In a once-thriving mining community in County Durham, Syrian refugees get rehomed amongst a group of disgruntled locals. Amateur photographer Yara (Ebla Mari) has her treasured camera broken in the tussle, and soon approaches local publican TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) for help.

Director Ken Loach brings his team of regulars along for his swansong. Based in the same year as Loach’s I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You, the movie serves as an end to a trilogy providing a social commentary on an England facing Brexit; what it means to be British, and the harsh reality experienced by many that may have swayed their xenophobic allegiances.

While not as hard-hitting as Loach’s previous entries, the movie still provides enough social grit for our characters’ plights to be felt. At the last bastion of a time long gone, the local community becomes more disrupted as they perceive a new community coming into their hard-earned one with relative ease. Gifted with homes, supplies and toys, the locals conversely struggle to even pay for their children’s food. After being turned away from using the pub’s uninsured hall for a community meeting to discuss the changes, the locals are further stirred by Ballantyne’s decision to host a Syrian community food hall instead to bring peace to the town and to provide some desperately needed food.

Verdict: While a more developed exploration of the community’s growing empathy for their new neighbours would have served a more satisfying climax, the movie is solid as oak. 3 stars.

Luke McWilliams, www.themovieclub.net