The Angels' Share

Ken Loach discovery Paul Brannigan stars as a sweet and tender hooligan who finds within himself a secret untapped talent.

Things are different now. After narrowly escaping a prison sentence, and with his girlfriend about to give birth to their first child, Robbie (newcomer Paul Brannigan) is instead sentenced to community service. Compelled by impending fatherhood, he's determined to keep to the straight and narrow this time, but the cycle of crime has a way of sucking people back in, and with the local hoods wanting to break his door down, not fighting back doesn't feel like an option.

Very few people can see the good in him, but when community service supervisor Harry discovers he has a good nose for whisky, a light is turned on inside Robbie. Whisky could be a way to break out of a cycle of crime, or it could be his undoing.

Curator's Note

Is 2pm too early for a whisky? We think not. Ken Loach's warm and generous dramedy pairs his signature social realism with some lighter nods to genre filmmaking. The screenplay, by frequent collaborator Paul Laverty, leans into comedy, crime drama and the heist film.

In some ways, The Angels' Share can be viewed as an update of his 1969 masterwork Kes, where the downtrodden and underestimated discover a secret talent that could be their ticket out of a hopeless trajectory. In The Angels' Share, we're also treated to a brighter tone and vision of the world that will lift audiences.

The Angels' Share premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival where it screened in competition and received the Jury Prize.

– Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)