Loach's sobering yet poetic realism offers a down-to-earth look at an adolescent's ache from and obstinacy against poverty, indifference, abuse and violence, along with his desperation to find hope, symbolized by the kestrel, in the face of the bleak outlook of life.
It's like Claire's Knee, only until the last frame, we understand the film title. We forget about everyone else and even the story itself, but watching the boy in front of us, with a white balloon on a stick.