REVIEW: ‘Sorry We Missed You,’ now streaming
Photo: Sorry We Missed You, starring Kris Hitchen, is directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. Photo courtesy of Zeitgeist Films / Provided by Film Forum press site with permission.
Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You is a thoughtful, often powerful look at one family’s struggles to pay the bills and keep a roof over their heads. This story, with a deep and meaningful commentary on class and the economy, feels even more pertinent now with the coronavirus pandemic and a workforce that is increasingly becoming unemployed.
Loach, working off a script by his frequent collaborator Paul Laverty, focuses his cinematic microscope on Ricky (Kris Hitchen) and Abbie (Debbie Honeywood), a married couple who are going though changes in their professional lives, which greatly influence the relationship they have with their children, Seb (Rhys Stone) and Liza Jae (Katie Proctor).
[Read Hollywood Soapbox’s interview with Sorry We Missed You screenwriter Paul Laverty.]
On the surface, this quartet seems to work well with one another. There is real love in the house, and they like to have a good time and good conversation over a curry or cup of tea. But the peacefulness comes to an end when Ricky takes on the monumental risk of purchasing a delivery van and starting work at a courier service (Amazon Prime comes to mind). In this new job, he needs to work tireless hours, with few chances for a break. Even if he has to use the bathroom, Ricky simply pulls out a plastic bottle to piss in.
The money that was needed for the delivery van came from the sale of Abbie’s car, which means she must rely on public transportation when coming and going to her healthcare appointments. She is an at-home nurse, and although she appreciates the company of her patients and is good at what she does, this added headache of dealing with buses backs her schedule up and causes further delays.
With both parents working longer and harder, there is no way for them to be effective parents to Seb and Liza Jae. Their daughter, the younger of the two children, is able to manage — popping dinner into the microwave and finishing her homework. Seb, on the other hand, struggles with the distance and acts out in the local neighborhood. He hasn’t been going to school, and he gets into scuffs with the local police, mostly because he’s an aspiring street artist.
The central conflict in this believable, authentic-feeling narrative deals with Seb and his father. The two are disconnected and unable to find a place of calmness. Simple dinner discussions devolve into fights, and Ricky is not able to give his son what he needs: sound parental advice.
Laverty’s script and Loach’s direction are gentle and real. These 100 minutes pass by with the audience being a fly on the wall as they watch the increasingly hostile family environment and the lose-lose situation that these two parents find themselves in. One almost has to look away because their economic and familial fall seems so inevitable.
However, one shouldn’t watch Sorry We Missed You and believe the plight of this family is some faraway parable. Many people suffer through similar consequences, and the demands of the courier business are important to consider — if for no other reason than most viewers of this drama are, in fact, the receivers of these packages, which are delivered on time and with no thought to what (human) expense it took for that delivery to be on the doorstep.
Hitchen and Honeywood are masterful by being so believable. They are kind in their hearts, but they wear their frustrations heavy on their brow. They are experts at conveying so much with their blank stares and worried gazes, almost like they realize they will never get ahead given their present circumstances. Kudos also should be given to Stone and Proctor, who more than hold their own as the young people in this gripping tale.
Sorry We Missed You, which is now streaming from New York City’s Film Forum website, is a touching and timely portrayal of a family coming undone because of the conditions that society and the economy have placed on them. It’s as much our story as it is theirs.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Sorry We Missed You (2019). Directed by Ken Loach. Written by Paul Laverty. Starring Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood, Rhys Stone and Katie Proctor. Running time: 100 minutes. Rating: 
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