I, Daniel Blake

The dark-horse winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes film festival, I, Daniel Blake is a small film about unheard voices that punches above its weight, made all the more relevant in the wake of the EU referendum. Comedian Dave Johns makes a terrific dramatic debut in the title role, a Geordie carpenter who has been signed off from work after a heart attack. Blake wants to get back to his job but can't - the government says he is fit for work when his GP doesn't. Consequently, he is stripped of disability benefits and pushed on to Jobseeker's Allowance, which requires him to tout for work that he is physically incapable of doing. Initially handled with warm, low-key humour, Loach's film gains serious urgency when Blake meets single mother Katie (Hayley Squires), another hostage to circumstance. Though a little on the nose at times, their intertwining stories are heartfelt and moving, giving a human face to the statistics of breadline Britain.