Yet another charming and subtle music-driven winner from writer-director John Carney (‘Sing Street’, ‘Once’), ‘Flora and Son’ is full of life and love and all the things that can conspire to make a movie worthwhile. That includes the cast, led by Eve Hewson (daughter of Bono) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who star as a pair of lost souls who happen to trip on each other. He’s an online guitar teacher in LA, and she’s a single mom in Dublin, but the distance doesn’t stunt their chemistry and connection. It’s a smart and multi-layered film free of saccharine and the usual tropes. (There’s an entire spot-on B-plot about Flora struggling to raise her troubled son.) Plus, its built-in soundtrack keeps things humming along.
4.5/5 stars