The film 'It's A Free World' captures the story of a self-employed woman, Angie, who starts up a recruitment agency with her flatmate Rose. They employ immigrants from Eastern Europe who live in the London underbelly, illegally of course. In my opinion, the actors chosen by the famous film director Ken Loach did an extraordinary job, their performance is incredibly realistic, true to life, nothing seems black and white. Angie, performed by the unknown Kierston Waring is a strong-minded character who doesn't think twice before doing things, but she is a real warrior even if she isn't always honest with the immigrants and herself. Rose is more rational-minded, she stands up for justice and equality. This film is a masterpiece of social realism, it shows disregard for humanity, an eye-opening mirror of the English society. It also reflects on European problems, especially immigration workers. On one hand the plot is really disturbing, upsetting and can even be frightening, on the other hand it is poignant and entertaining. I really enjoyed the way it has been shot, the camera is always moving, we can see interesting filming perspectives. I think that this film is really important for us, young people to see and understand. Even if it is happening in the United Kingdom, it concerns the whole E.U.. And with the Brexit it became even more relevant for us to know what is going on in England! We are the new generation who has to fight for justice, equality and peace, against segregation and separation between different classes! So thanks to great artists like Ken Loach, people get informed about a gripping reality. Now it is up to us to react, to organise, to fight for a better world!

During the British Screen Festival that took place last month, we had the opportunity to watch the movie « It's a Free World ! ». In short, this is the story of Angie who - after being sexually harassed by her coworkers - decides with a friend of hers to launch her own company. Unfortunately her job is to find work for immigrants who, most of them, don't have a passport, aren't allowed to be in the country. In this very complicated and actually very real situation, we discover how people want to spread their good intentions become victims of the working world. I liked this movie. I'm not hiding that I can't really be objective, because to me, a good film that shows real things, real settings, real people with real struggles. And this movie is made with much realism. I also like the fact that Ken Loach shows in his story how some people - bosses and workers as well - have to fight against the system, our system. It is pretty rare to show tough reality in fiction because, yes, we might want to escape our lifes and our struggles with mawkish and Marvel films, but sometimes, we unfortunately have to face the truth to care more and change things. And, with cleverness and without filter, Ken Loach shows us the truth, he sowes us what we need to see to react, to try to change things, and that's why I liked this movie.

Ken Loach is one of Britain's most prolific directors nowadays. His movies and his personal style have also gathered a faithful group of fans and followers (and many awards, as well). He takes on many subjects that would otherwise have a hard time finding their way to the big screen, such as the Irish revolution or the actual state of unemployment and abuse of immigrants, which is the theme of 'It's a free world....' The script, written by Loach's regular screenwriter Paul Laverty, is really sober. There is not much in the sense of artificiality, with dialogue that seems real and fitting to the characters and setting. Perhaps too much. Their mumbling is quite hard to follow, and abundant, and most of the action on the screen feels a lot like a filling. This can be blamed on Loach's approach on directing, following his usual style of being just an observer. Although it's a commendable approach, it can also lead to make the movie quite boring and messy, which is the case with 'It's a Free World....' Most of the time, the movie just feels interested on showing how miserable are everyone's lives, which is guess is fitting to the context of the film, but it is a bit too much. The supposed-to-be humorous breaks, to make the movie easier to swallow are quite obtuse and scarce, leaving us with plain drama. And that is my main grumble about the movie: it feels so obsessed to show how miserable everything is that most of the times it just forgets that it is a movie. At the end I just wanted it to finish, as I was not only bored, but annoyed with how obvious and manipulative the movie turned out to be. The acting, as usual with Ken's movies, is filled with fresh faces. Most of the actors are newcomers, and that actually helps immersing the spectator in the movie, for good or bad. Their gibberish is so hard to follow that you might actually need the help of subtitles in order to know what is going on in most scenes. From the ensemble, Kierston Wareing stands out as the lead character, giving a much-needed stream of energy to the film. The rest, however, feel amateurish, which can be a good or a bad thing, considering the documental-like approach of Loach. 'It's a Free World...' sure isn't a movie for everyone. It is, like every Ken Loach film, a film striving for showing a reality, to criticize a wrong, and somehow, be food for thought. Sadly, that seems to be the one and only motivation behind this movie, it being absolutely oblivious that, after all, it is a film. That is a common problem, for me, with English social dramas: the obsession of showing how miserable life is, and nothing else. At the end, I was absolutely bored and pleading for it to end, instead of being shocked and disgusted to the reality 'It's a Free World...' tried so hard to criticize. I would still recommend it to those interested in the problems of immigration and work nowadays, but warning them that, as a film, it does not deliver at all.

This film captures perfectly one of the many faults of capitalism, it portrays an extremely sad situation of the desperate struggle that some people have everyday to earn money. In this case it follows the exploitation of foreign workers who came to England (London) in desperate search of work, and the lengths they will go earn money. The central character (Angie) played by Kierston Wareing is a self employed recruitment agent an ambitious and vibrant women who wont take no for an answer, she has a certain cheek and charm that is compelling and shows us some level of kindness, but also has a darker side which she has no problems in showing to people. Her friend and flatmate (Rose) played by Juliet Ellis is portrayed as the more rational minded and frankly kinder person, who relapses that sometimes it's not always about the money. An inevitable twist of faith comes for Angie where she is put in the position of victim, but does this change her views on life?It is very well directed, showing the viewer the dull and bleak industrial estates and caravan parks of London which really suits the story and the depressive feel of the script.Ken Loach and Paul Laverty done a great job with this film and like most of Loachs films is a striking and damning account of the depression to be found in working class England.