Weekend Watch: Flora & Son

The return of Once and Sing Street director John Carney

Image Credit: Apple TV+

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Eve Hewson gets musical with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite

A new film from John Carney is always a reason to be happy –– mostly because his films tend to fall on the more cheerful side. Once is an Oscar-winning delight, and the vastly underseen Sing Street is the sort of film that will lift your mood every time.

So, of course Apple has snapped up his latest, Flora & Son out of Sundance and the film is now on limited release, which is a great thing. While it might not be a gigantic, IMAX-shot cinematic experience, all movies deserve to see screens outside of festivals.

Carney’s latest is a smaller affair than either of his well-known previous outings, but still has its charms.

The film follows single mother Flora (Eve Hewson), who –– determined to keep her rebellious son Max (Orén Kinlan) out of trouble –– rescues an old guitar from a skip in the hope he will find a new hobby. When he tells her he doesn't want the instrument, Flora decides to take guitar lessons herself and seeks instruction from washed-up LA musician Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) over Zoom.

As she figures out chords and starts flirting with Jeff –– all while dealing with her ex, Ian (Jack Reynor) with whom she co-parents Max, Flora starts to realise that she might have found her calling. Or at least, that she can write a catchy song or two.

Hewson (the daughter of U2 frontman Bono, so no pressure on the singing front!) is excellent as Flora, the focal point of the film, and a young woman still trying to figure out how to balance life as a single mother and what she really wants out of life. She’s

While Kinlan has less to do as Max, he’s believable as a troubled youth, and has good chemistry with both Hewson and Reynor.

Gordon-Levitt’s role is a little more isolated since he’s almost always seen over a Zoom window –– though Carney does open things up and have him and Hewson share screen time in sequences where Flora in particular imagines Jeff talking to her in person.

It’s good-natured and sweet and unlikely to change the world (nor, despite Carney’s history, is it really expected to challenge award season this year the way that Apple’s CODA managed), but it’ll put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Maybe more than one. And, after all, isn’t that a good thing for a film to do?

Flora & Son is in select cinemas in the UK and US now, and arrives on Apple TV+ on 29 September.