June 26, 2024

How have I never seen anything about this movie before?

What a wonderfully charming movie. From the director of Sing Street, Flora and Son is a story of a single mom Flora (Eve Hewson) who has had trouble connecting with her 14-year old son Max (Orén Kinlan). One day, in an attempt to find something for her son to do, she rescued a guitar from the dumpster. When he rejected it, Flora decided to take online lessons to learn the guitar herself and she found a guitar instructor Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who changed her life.

This film is a love letter to music and its power to create, heal or maintaining relationships, even those that feel as if there is no possible way for those relationships to work.

The film has a complicated relationship between Flora and Max at the center, a mother and son who seem to barely stand each other, but their eventual similar love of music started to repair their bond.

The relationship with Flora and Jeff is one of the most fascinating ones of the film as they never meet face to face, only over the internet. However, the film uses some clever ways to show this online relationship that helps create a connection that benefitted both of them.

Ewe Hewson is tremendous as Flora. She is the ultimate standout of the movie and her performance carries most of the film. I found her so appealing that I bought every relationship she had and I rooted for her to be a better mom. Orén Kinlan was solid too, bringing the typical brooding teen more depth than you would think.

I did not expect to enjoy this film as much as I did, but I loved Sing Street and the vibe definitely matches that one.