Pack the tissues and get thee to a cinema, after reducing New Zealand International Film Festival audiences to blithering messes, Ken Loach's Palme d'Or winner I, Daniel Blake is now on general release across the country.
It's unforgettable cinema and may haunt the recesses of your mind, your heart and your conscience for years.
Loach knows how to mine extraordinary stories out of seemingly ordinary people living ordinary lives. And after a few no less excellent yet lighter outings of late (Looking for Eric and Angels Share) he's back dealing out the emotional gut-punches.
I, Daniel Blake shares a little DNA with Loach's 2002 heartbreaker Sweet Sixteen, the filmmaker's ability to get us so quickly and deeply into and under the skin of his protagonists is once again key.
This time it's middle-aged carpenter Dan, recently widowed and recovering from a heart attack he needs welfare for the first time in his hard-working life. Until his doctors clear him for work again, he must immerse himself in the soul-destroyingly bureaucratic British welfare system.
How he's treated will defy belief.
Down at the welfare office he meets a young, desperate solo mother from London who has been relocated to Newcastle with her two children. Treated with the same inhumane indifference by staff, Dan helps Kattie home, the pair forming an unlikely friendship, leaning on each other to survive.
The Palme d'Or winner at Cannes this year, please don't miss this film. It is stories like this which make the NZIFF the cinematic highlight of every year.
Five stars.
This film is playing as part of the 2016 New Zealand International Film Festival.
I, Daniel Blake:: Director: Ken Loach:: Starring: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Dylan McKiernan, Briana Shann:: Rating: M - offensive language and adult themes:: Running Time: 100 minutes
Reviewed by Kate Rodger/Newshub.