Route Irish (Ken Loach, 2010)

Here, Loach turns his eye on the issue of Western intervention in Iraq, only obliquely in that the chief focus of his ire is the employment of unpoliced contractors to mop up the mess left by the invasion, the director probably having realised that the boat for attacking the war itself has long since sailed. The perspective is that of an emotionally scarred ex-contractor seeking redress and answers relating to the death of his comrade in Baghdad, the structure essentially that of a thriller. It's fundamentally nihilistic in outlook, with the protagonist becoming increasingly unstable as he uncovers more and more institutionalised corruption, and can easily be read as Loach publicly purging his system of any sinful temptation to entertain between the less single-note Looking for Eric and The Angels' Share.

5/10