Ken Loach’s “Kes” is one of the most quietly devastating films ever made about childhood,
poverty, and the limits of hope. It is not an easy watch, and that’s exactly why it stays with you.
The story unfolds in a dying coal-mining community in South Yorkshire in the late 1960s, a town closing in on itself — pithead, slag heaps, rows of identical brick houses, smoke that never clears. There is very little hope in the air, and life is tough for everyone in it, not just the kids.
Every adult seems worn down, every institution feels punitive, and every path for a young boy narrows before it begins.
The Yorkshire accent is thick and fast, and the boys use local expressions that can be hard to catch, so subtitles help enormously. With captions on, the dialogue reveals the rhythms of a community rarely shown with such authenticity – some lines funny, many of them cruel.
At the center is Billy Casper, played by David Bradley, a local schoolboy rather than a trained actor. He embodies that kid: guarded, mumbling, angry, then suddenly alight when he talks about his bird. It’s a remarkable natural performance.
Billy is fifteen, and his life is harsh even by the standards of his environment. He is bullied by classmates and adults alike, dismissed by teachers who see him as a lost cause, and terrorized by his older brother Jud. He isn’t a perfect innocent. He steals milk from the delivery truck on his paper round and a falconry book from the used bookstore because he has no money. He simply does what he has learned to do to get by.
The adults around him are often cruel in ways that feel routine. The headmaster’s use of the cane is treated as normal. Boys are sent to him for minor infractions, punishment handled like paperwork: hands out, whack, whack, next offender.
The boys’ soccer coach is an overbearing tyrant in anyone’s eyes, hijacking a cold, miserable gym class so he can pretend he’s a professional star, barking orders and humiliating the less athletic boys. I thought Loach could have cut that lengthy scene in half and still made its point.
Amid all the bleakness, Billy discovers something that gives his life shape. He takes a kestrel from its nest, names it Kes, and teaches himself how to train it. Working with Kes gives him the only joy he knows. Out in the fields he becomes a different boy – focused, patient, proud.
Loach never makes those fields conventionally beautiful; the backdrop always includes the mining industry’s winding gear, pylons, and haze. Even in Billy’s freest moments, that reality remains.
The film’s finest scene takes place in a classroom. Mr. Farthing, the one teacher who seems to actually like kids, asks Billy to explain how he trains Kes. Billy begins awkwardly, then slowly comes alive as he describes making the jesses, rising at dawn, earning the bird’s trust. For once, the other kids see a different part of Billy’s life. He isn’t just the sullen kid in the back row anymore; he has something he does well and enjoys.
That’s why the ending hits so hard. Billy refuses to place Jud’s horserace bet, and Jud retaliates by killing Kes. Billy isn’t perfect. He makes a defiant choice – but the revenge is so out of proportion that it feels brutal.
“Kes” is not a sentimental animal story. It is about a boy who finds one disciplined, beautiful thing that belongs to him, and how little room the world leaves for that kind of beauty.
“Kes” can be streamed with subscriptions on Prime Video, Fubo, MGM+, and Philo; rented on Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.