(courtesy IMP Awards)
SNAPSHOT
Single mom Flora (Eve Hewson) is at a loss about what to do with her rebellious teenage son, Max (Orén Kinan). Encouraged by the police to find Max a hobby, Flora tries to occupy him with a beat-up acoustic guitar. With the help of a washed-up LA musician (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Flora and Max discover the transformative power of music. From the musical mind of John Carney, Flora and Son explores the bond between a mother & son on a journey toward a new harmony. Flora and Son is both written and directed by acclaimed Irish musician / filmmaker John Carney, director of the films On the Edge, Once, Zonad, The Rafters, Begin Again, and Sing Street previously, and the series Modern Love. Produced by Anthony Bregman, John Carney, Alison Cohen, Peter Cron, Rebecca O’Flanagan, and Robert Walpole. (courtesy First Showing)
Figuring out life can be tough at the best of times but what about if you’re a mother and son trying to do it together?
In a trailer that promises one of those transformatively rich viewing experiences that indie films do so well, we see how single mum Flora and Max have to really work hard to reach a place where they get each other, get life and can move to somewhere really good in life.
It’s not easy and Flora and Son doesn’t pretend otherwise, but you get the feeling that somewhere along the line they’ll figure it all out, and if that all sounds a little too emotionally convenient and twee, then where on earth is your heart?
Life isn’t easy really but when you get the wins, it is good and this looks like one of those rewarding movies that will its characters a happy ending but only after putting them through the wringer first.
Which in an indie film worth its existential salt is exactly as it should be …
Flora and Son will release in select cinemas on 22 September in US and on AppleTV+ on 29 September.