Hopeful British drama has themes of racism, strong language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Language
a lot
Frequent strong language includes "c--t," "f---ing," "f----r," "f--k," "s--t," "s--ting," "s--thole," "shite," "hell," "piss," "d--k," "bastards," "a--hole," "crap," "bloody," and the British swear word "wanker." There's name-calling such as "nutter," "moron," "loser," "parasites," "scab," and "pedos," plus exclamations of "Jesus Christ." Racist language includes "Paki," "dirty immigrant" "foreign bastard," "f---ing ragheads," "crazy f---ing Jihadi," and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves."
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White characters intimidate Syrian characters, verbally harassing them with racist language, and one steals a camera from another, which ends up getting broken. A person shoves another out of their house and they stumble on to the pavement. Bullying at school involves hitting and kicking on the ground, resulting in blood on the face -- and filming the attack on a smartphone. Pitbull dogs behave aggressively and attack a smaller dog, which is killed by them off-screen. There are suicide references when a character talks about a past intention to take their own life. Mention of bombs, refugee camps, overcrowded prisons, beatings and torture, chlorine gas, militia, and news footage shows children being pulled from the rubble of a bombed school. Mention of the death of parents.
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Passing sexual reference, where a customer suggests the barman is "slipping her a length" when talking about Yara. Mention of "shagging," British slang for sex.
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Guinness mentioned and logos for Waterstones bookshop and kitchen condiments including Heinz, HP, and Sarson's vinegar shown.
Positive Messages
some
Community and solidarity are important, and empathy and teamwork are great character strengths. Love and loss are universal experiences. Don't take your own problems out on others. It takes strength and faith to hope, but hope can be both inspiring and cause pain. Hate, lies, corruption, and betrayal are strong forces. Hard work doesn't always pay off.
Positive Role Models
some
TJ is kind and empathetic toward others. He tries to calm local people expressing racist views and helps refugees settle into their homes. He's generous with what little he has, trading his uncle's old cameras to help Yara fix hers, and is warm and loving toward his dog. Yara is confident and hardworking. She's not afraid to stand up for herself and others, and challenges herself, such as learning 20 English words a day while helping nurses in a refugee camp. She also shows kindness to a local teen who falls ill and toward TJ when he struggles. She's a talented photographer and immerses herself in the local community through photography. Both TJ and Yara show empathy and teamwork, and many members from the community learn from their examples -- though some remain stuck in their racist, embittered views.
Diverse Representations
some
Both White British and Syrian characters are given complexity, and are shown to be united by their similarities. Syrian characters are played by Syrian people. Though the film is written and directed by White Men, real-life refugee stories were gathered by the writer and director prior to the film, and Amna Al Ali, who plays the mother of central character Yara, arrived in the U.K. as a refugee from Syria in 2008. Some local people express strongly racist views and use racist language toward the Syrian refugees, and only sometimes do other characters call them out. A supporting character uses a wheelchair, but is wheeled in and out of scenes without being given a role beyond. Set in an old mining town in the north of England, most English characters are seen to be financially struggling and show little hope of future prospects.
Parents need to know that The Old Oak is an important drama by British director Ken Loach that follows the tension between struggling families in an old mining town and Syrian refugees housed in the area. It deals with mature themes, such as war, seeking asylum, racism, divorce and estrangement, miner's strikes, and economic hardship. Dialogue is in English and Arabic, with characters on-screen translating between the two. Strong language includes "c--t," "f--k," and "s--t," as well as racist terms such as "ragheads," "Paki," and "Jihadi." Racist bullying at school sees a boy hit and kicked, with the attack filmed on a smartphone. Though the film is written and directed by White men, Syrian characters are played by Syrian actors, some of whom have experience of being refugees. There are references to war, the death of parents, and of intended suicide. While much of the film is bleak, there are touching and hopeful moments, and the two lead characters, TJ (Dave Turner) and Yara (Ebla Mari), show empathy and teamwork. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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What's the Story?
In THE OLD OAK, TJ (Dave Turner) owns the last remaining pub in a village in the northeast of England, mostly left to ruin after the closure of the mines decades before. When Syrian refugees move into the area, including Yara (Ebla Mari) and her family, tensions rise and resentment stirs. Can TJ and Yara work to bring the two struggling communities together and spark a glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak situation?
Director Ken Loach is known for tackling social issues head on, without turning away from bleakness or sugarcoating injustice. As with his previous films, The Old Oak doesn't oversimplify the complexities of its characters, nor does it lean so far into idealism as to tie things up neatly in a bow. It has strong social messages about forgotten communities -- both British mining towns and those displaced by war -- and offers glimmers of hope rather than dramatic spectacles. Both Syrian and White British actors are mostly first timers on-screen, bar Turner as TJ, whose potential for heartfelt honesty was discovered by Loach back in 2016's I, Daniel Blake and has now worked with the director three times in a row. He's the beating heart of the film, but that rhythm is matched in kindred spirit Yara (Mari), whose necessitated bravery inspires him, and both communities, to hope for more.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the racism in The Old Oak. How did the film portray characters who expressed racist views? What did the film teach about the struggles of the Syrian refugees and the struggles of the people living in the old mining town? Could you see any similarities in their experiences? How did characters learn more about each other's cultures?
Both TJ and Yara show empathy and teamwork in the movie. Why are they important character strengths? How do they help them to bring the communities together?
There's lots of strong language used in the movie. What did it contribute to the story? Is a certain level of language expected in a film like this? If so, why?
Director Ken Loach is known for tackling social issues in his films. Have you seen any other movies of his? How do they compare? Can you think of other films that don't shy away from social or political commentary? Why do you think it's important for filmmakers to shine a light on these issues?
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By Kat Halstead
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