I, Am Daniel Blake

(from The Guardian 12 May 2016) With this movie Ken Loach establishes himself yet further as the John Bunyan of contemporary British cinema. Based on research and interviews by the screenwriter Paul Laverty, this movie tells the fictional story of Daniel Blake, a middle-aged widower in the North East (of England) who can’t work or get benefits after a near-fatal heart attack, and the story is told with stark and fierce plainness: unadorned, unapologetic, even unevolved. Loach’s movie offends against the tacitly accepted rules of sophisticated good taste: subtlety, irony and indirection. The film is not objective, and perhaps Loach and Laverty have signed up to Churchill’s maxim about refusing to be neutral between the fire brigade and the fire…

Full Guardian Review.

This is a powerfully affecting movie.  Set in the U.K. it is pertinent for audiences in other countries as well.  The movie is sober, infuriating and sad.  Practicing medicine in the U.S., I can resonate with the maddening bureaucracy. Physicians are almost nowhere to be seen here.  It seems like no one was running interference for Daniel Blake.  That may well be the way it usually is.

The Wrestler (2008)

In its own way this is a magical film. It is corny but it really works.
From Netflix: Mickey Rourke (in a Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated role) stars as retired professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, who returns to the ring and tries to work his way up the circuit for a final shot at defeating his longtime rival. Along the way, he tries to reconnect with his daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), while exploring a relationship with a stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei, also nominated for a Golden Globe and Oscar). 2008 105 minutes
From the "Medflix" standpoint, The Ram, has a myocardial infarct after a match and undergoes bypass surgery. This has a profound impact on his life.
Trailer.