Over the course of his illustrious 60-year career Ken Loach has used the medium of film to bring awareness to various social issues impacting the lives of many in the U.K. Whether he is addressing poverty or labour rights, his films cut through the bureaucracy that, much like police tape, often keep people on the outskirts of a problem.

His latest film, The Old Oak, takes viewers inside a community in County Durham that finds itself at a crossroads.

Once a thriving mining town, the region is a shell of its former self. 30-years after the mine was closed, poverty is ravishing the community. Much like the faulty signage above The Old Oak pub, the locals are barely hanging on. No one understands the devastating impact of this economic decline more than the pubs’ owner Tommy “TJ“ Ballantyne (Dave Turner). He has observed his establishment go from being the gathering hub for the community to a place where a few loyal customers hang out and lament the loss of what once was.

One does not need a time machine to see the glory days of the past though. The walls of the pub’s back room, now closed due to the lack of patronage, are adorned with photos that captures the joys and struggles that brought the community together. Similar to an unexpected earthquake, the closure of the mine fractured those bonds and caused aftershocks that still reverberate today.

Without a viable industry to generate sustainable revenue, the path to revitalization gets murkier by the day. Some have even resorted to confining themselves to their homes, shackled by their sense of shame for not being able to provide for their family.

Unable to aim their rage filled darts at the government and corporations that put them in this predicament, the locals paint their bullseye on the back of the Syrian refugees who have been placed in the community. Despite fleeing the hardships of war, the refugees are vilified and mocked from the minute their bus arrives in front of their new home.

Using still photos, taken by Yara (Ebla Mari), one of the Syrians new to the area, Loach makes it clear from the film’s outset that nationalism has infected the UK like a virus. Many in the town believe that the refugees are taking up valuable resources and receiving privileges that they did not earn. It is through the friendship that grows between Yara and TJ that the director shows this is far from the truth. The struggles of the Syrians mirror that of the impoverished County Durham community, but they have also experienced the atrocities of war and political corruption that TJ and his patrons could never dream of.

The Old Oak does a good job of pointing out the ways the folks of County Durham are ill-informed and have been swayed by hive mind thinking. A direct commentary on our current divisive times, Loach uses certain moments to directly call out the false sense of victimhood that many in the anti-immigrant movement carry. In one powerful scene Laura (Claire Rodgerson), a local who is part of a grassroots group helping the Syrians acclimatize to their new surroundings, directly question what TJ has done for his community, after he suggests she provide used bikes for the local kids as well.

This sense of blaming the other while doing nothing to pull oneself out of the muck, despite the cultural advantages provided to the predominantly white villagers, is a drum that the film bangs loudly.

While its heart and message are in the right place, The Old Oaks lack of subtly practically ensures that those who the film is intended for will simply tune it out. Furthermore, the film takes a rather simplistic approach of physically breaking bread together, as TJ opens up his back room to house a makeshift soup kitchen for the community, as a tool that can lead to mutual understanding. Although talking and actually getting to know one’s neighbours in person, rather than making assumptions on social media, is important. The film still places the onus on the refugees to come up with the idea in the first place.

This also inadvertently speaks to the fragile and misguided nature of allyship. TJ makes the bold step to help, but then cowers at the first sign of challenge.

Loach’s film wants to stand on the right side of humanity, but unconsciously makes those who are being persecuted the ones responsible for coming up with solutions for the persecutors to adopt. The film both challenges those with anti-immigrant leanings to see beyond the rhetoric that is being feed to them, and subsequently absolves them of having to make a different meal themselves.

The Old Oak is said to be Loach’s final film, as he steps into retirement, but it is not the triumphant send off one might hope. The film’s bluntness and overly simplified politics will do little to change the minds of those who need to hear its message the most.