Ken Loach’s 2016 film I, Daniel Blake is a scathing indictment of the British benefits system. The film follows 59-year-old widower Daniel Blake who suffers a heart attack and becomes unable to work. Despite medical evidence and GP support, Blake is told that he is not eligible to receive state benefits.
The film powerfully shows how the knotty bureaucracy of the benefits system robs claimants of their humanity and reduces them to a number. The story has been powerfully adapted and updated for the stage by the film’s star Dave Johns to show how the cost of living crisis has worsened what was already bad in 2016.
As Johns says: “The story is still as relevant as it was in 2016; maybe even more so now … [Daniel’s] story could be anyone’s.”
