Mullan's combative, unsentimental performance makes Joe's slow ruin not just credible but unavoidable.

Often with a film like this you think you know how it has to end. The ending of My Name Is Joe left me stunned. I've rarely seen a film where the conclusion is so unexpected, and yet, in its own way, so logical, and so inevitable.

Mullan brings an aching vulnerability and charming affectation to the role of Joe as he is trying to put his life back together. He is enthusiastic and hopeful in spurts, but still melancholic about his addiction.

Loach in fine form, at the peak of his craft. Proletarian realism does not get better than this.