Sorry We Missed You parents guide

Sorry We Missed You Parent Guide

An agonizing portrait of a family struggling to make ends meet in a gig economy.

Overall C+

Ricky's family life has been falling apart since he lost his job in the 2008 financial crash. Struggling to find employment in the modern gig economy, Ricky and his wife, Abbie, will have to work together to keep their family together.

Release date March 6, 2020

Violence C+
Sexual Content A
Profanity D
Substance Use B-

Why is Sorry We Missed You rated Not Rated? The MPAA rated Sorry We Missed You Not Rated

Run Time: 100 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Ricky Turner (Kris Hitchen) is struggling to keep his family afloat. The 2008 recession destroyed his building career and he’s been working at semi-skilled labor jobs. But he’s not as young as he used to be and he’s too proud to go on the dole, so Ricky needs to find another way to pay the rent. When a friend suggests working as a delivery driver, Ricky sells his wife’s car and borrows some money to buy a delivery van.

I hate watching horror movies – the constant tension, the sense of imminent doom, and the gory violence are too much for me. Sorry We Missed You definitely isn’t a horror flick, but it’s dominated a persistent sense of dread and tension that ratchets up throughout the story. Almost all of this film’s 101 minute runtime saw me on the edge of my seat, terrified of what was going to happen next to the Turner family.

One of the great achievements of this production is how deeply it makes us care about the Turners. Ricky is the real thing – a hard working man who desperately wants to make a better life for his children. His wife, Abbie (Debbie Honeywood) is a gentle, tender woman who wants to spend more time with her children and who lavishes kindness on the sick and elderly clients she cares for in their homes. Teenager Sebastian (Rhys Stone) is angry, rebellious, and artistic. And Liza Jane (Katie Proctor) is the bright, beloved daughter, successful at school and a peacemaker at home. The Turners love one another, and it is excruciating to watch as their economic woes put them under progressively greater strain and threaten to tear them apart.

It’s these economic pressures that are the foundation of the plot. Ricky and Abbie are hardworking and thrifty. But the system in which they work is stacked against them. Abbie’s kind heart doesn’t allow her to skimp on the care she gives her clients, which has her constantly running late and in trouble with her supervisor. And Ricky’s boss (Ross Brewster) is a callously brutal man who bullies his drivers in the pursuit of profit and efficiency. The drivers, trapped in gig economy jobs, without stable salaries or any benefits, work ever faster, aware that they are operating on a knife’s edge between solvency and financial disaster.

Sorry We Missed You isn’t rated by the MPAA but contains so much profanity that it lands squarely in the Restricted category. I counted just over 100 swear words – including 73 sexual expletives – but this number is inaccurate. There were scenes where the curse words were flying so fast I couldn’t catch them all, so, if you have a low tolerance for profanity, this clearly isn’t the movie for you. Other content issues are minor, but there is some violence, including a heart-rending act of vandalism, and a brutal beating with a humiliating twist.

The content issues are unfortunate because this movie has a lot to say, aside from the cuss words. It asks big questions about economic exploitation, the gig economy, and how we think people in service sector jobs deserve to be treated. After watching this movie, I guarantee that you’ll look at your Uber driver or Amazon courier in a whole new light.

Directed by Ken Loach. Starring Kris Hitchen, Debbie Honeywood, and Rhys Stone. Running time: 100 minutes. Theatrical release March 6, 2020. Updated

Watch the trailer for Sorry We Missed You

Sorry We Missed You
Rating & Content Info

Why is Sorry We Missed You rated Not Rated? Sorry We Missed You is rated Not Rated by the MPAA

Violence: A woman deliberately pushes her plate off the table. A man tries to attack another man; he is pulled away by bystanders. A man shoves another into a wall. Characters shout at one another on a few occasions. A man strikes a teenager in the face. A character shoves his father. A character vandalizes a home by using spray paint on photos. Three men attack another man, punching, shoving, and kicking him and then pouring urine on him; some bloody injuries are visible.
Sexual Content:   None noted.
Profanity: A very conservative count gives over 100 profanities, including more than six dozen sexual expletives, two dozen scatological curses, a term of deity, and various anatomical terms and mild profanities.
Alcohol / Drug Use: A main character is shown drinking beer after a stressful day.

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Sorry We Missed You Parents' Guide

Do you think that the gig economy provides flexibility and opportunity or do you think it makes contractors less economically secure?

People First: The Gig Economy: The Good, the Bad, and the Future

Quartz: The gig economy is quietly undermining a century of worker protections

The Dales Report: For Better or Worse, More Millennials are Finding the Gig Economy a Necessity

The New York Times: The Gig Economy is Coming for Your Job

The State of California has recently passed legislation to give workers in the gig economy many of the same protections enjoyed by employees. Do you think this is a good idea? Or do you think it will drive the services out of the state?

The Washington Post: Can California rein in tech’s gig platforms?

NPR: Uber, Lyft, Postmates Refuse to Comply With California Gig Economy Law

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Sorry We Missed You movie is July 7, 2020. Here are some details…

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