I, Daniel Blake

Widower Daniel Blake, a 59-year-old joiner from Newcastle, has had a heart attack. Though his cardiologist has not allowed him to return to work, Daniel is deemed fit to do so after a work capability assessment and denied Employment and Support Allowance. He is frustrated to learn that his doctor was not contacted about the decision, and applies for an appeal, a process he finds difficult because he must complete forms online and is not computer literate.

Daniel befriends single mother Katie after she is sanctioned for arriving late for a Jobcentre appointment. Katie and her children have just moved to Newcastle from a London homeless shelter, as there is no affordable accommodation in London. Daniel helps the family by repairing objects, teaching them how to heat rooms without electricity, and crafting wooden toys for the children.

During a visit to a food bank, Katie is overcome by hunger and breaks down. After she is caught shoplifting at a supermarket, a security guard offers her work as a prostitute. Daniel surprises her at the brothel, where he begs her to give up the job, but she tearfully insists she has no other way to feed her children.

As a condition for receiving Jobseeker's Allowance, Daniel must keep looking for work. He refuses a job at a garden centre because his doctor will not allow him to work yet. When Daniel's work coach tells him he must work harder to find a job or be sanctioned, Daniel spraypaints "I, Daniel Blake, demand my appeal date before I starve" on the building. He earns the support of passersby, including other benefits claimants, but is arrested and cautioned by the police. Daniel sells most of his belongings and becomes withdrawn. He is pulled out of his depression by Katie's daughter, Daisy, who brings him a homemade meal to repay him for his kindness.

On the day of Daniel's appeal, Katie accompanies him to the tribunal. A welfare adviser tells Daniel that his case looks sound. On glimpsing the judge and doctor who will decide his case, Daniel becomes anxious and visits the lavatory, where he suffers a heart attack and dies. At his public health funeral, Katie reads the eulogy, including the speech Daniel had intended to read at his appeal. The speech describes his feelings about how the welfare system failed him. "I am not a blip on a computer screen or a national insurance number, I am a man."

Principal photography began in October 2015 in Newcastle upon Tyne and the surrounding area.[6] The film was produced by Rebecca O'Brien[7] for Sixteen Films, Why Not Productions and Wild Bunch with the support of the British Film Institute and BBC Films.[8] O'Brien initially approached Channel 4's film division for funding. After a delay O'Brien said she was told by Channel 4 that funding was not available as "we're already covering the area because we're doing Benefits Street".[9]

I, Daniel Blake is Loach's biggest success at the UK box office.[10] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 92%, based on 180 reviews, with an average rating of 8.01/10. The site's consensus reads: "I, Daniel Blake marks yet another well-told chapter in director Ken Loach's powerfully populist filmography."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[12]

Writing for The Guardian, Mark Kermode gave the film five stars.[13]

• I, Daniel Blake at IMDb
• "I, Daniel Blake: An Authentic Cinema": an essay by Girish Shambu at the Criterion Collection