If there’s a social issue that needs a light shone on it in a way that can poignantly reach the masses, there’s one British film director whose gritty realism is bound to capture it perfectly.

And the inimitable Ken Loach doesn’t fail in the award-winning drama I, Daniel Blake.

The 15-certificate masterpiece tells, through the eyes of one man, of the human cost of recent benefits changes and the emphasis on process over people.

That man is Daniel Blake but he could so easily be you, or me, or our neighbour or the man we walk past in the supermarket every week.

Recovering from a heart attack, Daniel (Dave Johns) longs to return to work but, ruled unfit by his doctor, is forced to turn to the state for help.

An application for Employment and Support Allowance seems the obvious solution to what he hopes will be a short-term issue. That is until the points-based assessment system overrules his doctor's medical opinion and deems him fit to work.

A chance meeting leads Daniel to strike up a heartrending friendship with young mum Katie (Hayley Squires) and her two children as the adults desperately try to pay their way in life.

Daniel is not a man to sit back and quietly accept injustice, and thinks nothing of ruffling the feathers of those in authority.

Nor is he a man willing to see his friends suffer without trying to help.

This 100-minute rollercoaster explores almost every human emotion, from anger and frustration, shame and lack of self worth, to the love - and sadness - of friendship, with a dose of humour thrown in.

But whatever the moment, poignancy is never far away, as the film gives an all-too-easy-to-imagine account of just how easily someone can be forced into selling even the carpet from under their feet - or worse - in a desperate bid to keep the wolf from the door.

For those fortunate enough to not have first-hand experience, it sheds valuable light on the reality of the growing numbers of people battling an increasingly-challenging benefits system and forced to turn to foodbanks to plug the gap.

Ultimately, the state that holds the cards to decide whether a man who has worked all his life will get a penny from the social security system he has spent decades paying into.

As the film moves towards its conclusion, the audience can only watch and hope that Daniel receives the outcome he needs as he appeals the decision not to award him the benefit he needs.

Just don't expect anything other than a gritty and poignant ending.

I, Daniel Blake will be screened at Florence Arts Centre, Egremont, on Thursday at 7pm and at the Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth on February 13 at 8pm.

I defy anyone to watch this film and come out with dry eyes and without being prompted to re-evaluate their own outlook on the social issues that surround them.

SARAH MOORE