I, Daniel Blake (2017)
90%RT Audience Score: 85%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 BAFTA Award
31 wins & 38 nominations total
I, Daniel Blake marks yet another well-told chapter in director Ken Loach’s powerfully populist filmography.
I, Daniel Blake is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and want to punch a wall all at the same time. It’s a heart-wrenching story about a man trying to navigate the confusing and frustrating world of welfare bureaucracy, but it’s also a story about the kindness of strangers and the power of human connection. Ken Loach may be 80 years old, but he still knows how to make a movie that packs a punch. So grab some tissues and get ready to feel all the feels.
Production Company(ies)
Produzioni De Sica
Distributor
IFC Films
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language
Year of Release
2017
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 40m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jun 2, 2017 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 19, 2017
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
I, Daniel Blake, drama, R rating, directed by Ken Loach, written by Paul Laverty, starring Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Dylan McKiernan, Briana Shann, Kate Rutter, Sharon Percy, produced by Rebecca O’Brien, box office gross $258.2K, reviewed by Namrata Joshi, Michael Upchurch, Anthony Lane, J.R Jones, Bill Goodykoontz, Marjorie Baumgarten, Matt Brunson, Michael J Casey, Olly Richards, David Walsh, Yasser Medina, Roger Moore, genre: social drama, welfare system, poverty, bureaucracy, working class, unemployment, single mother, heart attack, carpenter, benefits, appeal process, British authorities, doctor’s diagnosis, destitute, MPAA rating: language, Dolby Digital sound mix, English (United Kingdom) original language, IFC Films distributor
Worldwide gross: $15,793,051
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $19,050,148
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,731
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,077,443
US/Canada gross: $260,354
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $314,048
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,449
US/Canada opening weekend: $18,682
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $22,535
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,471
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
– Dave Johns as Daniel
– Hayley Squires as Katie
– Dylan McKiernan as Dylan
– Briana Shann as Daisy
– Kate Rutter as Ann
– Sharon Percy as Sheila
– Director: Ken Loach
– Producer: Rebecca O’Brien
– Writer: Paul Laverty
Director(s)
Ken Loach
Writer(s)
Paul Laverty
Producer(s)
Rebecca O’Brien
Film Festivals
Sundance, Cannes, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 BAFTA Award
31 wins & 38 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (184) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (169) | Rotten (15)
I, Daniel Blake is about the struggles of an ailing common man against the labyrinthine welfare bureaucracy to get that elusive ’employment and support allowance.’
July 24, 2018
Namrata Joshi
The Hindu
TOP CRITIC
Whichever side you come down on, Johns’ and Squires’ low-key performances are impressive, and the technological/red-tape hurdles their characters face feel stingingly accurate.
June 29, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
Michael Upchurch
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
Politically, of course, it cleaves to the left, yet by temperament it shrinks from progress.
June 12, 2017
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Writer-director Ken Loach has been making movies about the British working class since the mid-60s, and this masterful dramatic feature proves that even after all these years he can still work himself up into righteous, white-hot rage.
June 8, 2017
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Johns makes it all bearable. Inviting, even. His performance has such a gentle humanity, even (especially) in the darkest scenes that you can’t turn away.
June 8, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
For the iconoclastic film director Ken Loach and his longtime screenwriting collaborator Paul Laverty, I, Daniel Blake represents their most accessible film ever.
June 1, 2017 | Rating: 4/5
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
It’s impossible to watch this movie without being forced to cope with bouts of sadness and helplessness — it’s honest and uncompromising, although moments of humor do manage to break loose.
September 18, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Small moments of humanity…are what matter here, and by not underlining them, Loach highlights them all the more.
June 13, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
Righteous commentary on the state of the UK, which hits home with the force of a sledgehammer…
April 23, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Olly Richards
NME
The performers are sincere enough, but the film is fairly insipid and forgettable.
July 8, 2020
David Walsh
World Socialist Web Site
Loach, at 80 years old, has returned to the brief social drama for which his cinema has been characterized. It offers us a moving and very human film that functions as the voice of the British people who demand to be heard. [Full review in Spanish]
June 27, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
A touching story, and a deflating one.
April 16, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Roger Moore
Movie Nation…
Plot
A 59 year old carpenter recovering from a heart attack befriends a single mother and her two kids as they navigate their way through the impersonal, Kafkaesque benefits system. With equal amounts of humor, warmth and despair, the journey is heartfelt and emotional until the end.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Dave Johns in his film debut as the titular character.
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