Between the captivating music and strong performances, Flora and Son is relevant and timely enough to make it a well-worth watch.

For the monthly cost of Apple TV+, you can truly get a lot for the money you’re spending. Due to what I have seen, and seeing that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was in the cast, it peaked my interest. My reviews have been geared more towards new theatrical releases, but since I got an early screening to this, I figured I’d share my thoughts out there.

From the opening song, I knew that this film was going to be unique. Knowing that Sing Street director John Carney also directed this makes sense as to why he would make a film like this. He has a strong understanding of music, yet tries to tackle different perspectives of music. Here, the electronic music makes for a great start to get anyone invested and curious as to what happens next. While the film doesn’t maintain the same energy throughout, I had a great appreciation of the hybrid choice between electronic and rock. Maybe I am biased because those are my two favorite genres, but I found the mix to be not only captivating, but also powerful to symbolize the emotions of particular scenes. Electronic for its more chaotic moments and rock for its more tender ones. Put that together, you get a film that manages to reach a broader audience through its real world approach.

On top of that, the cast for the most part is great. Lead actress, Eve Hewson, is a star in the making with this. She has no fear of what she is capable of doing and shows all of the right emotions. Jack Reynor & Oren Kinlan perfectly balance the story out with Hewson by having their characters be the ultimate distraction & motive to push Hewson into her music. Reynor plays as her ex-husband and Kinlan plays as her son. Reynor is more reserved than ever in order to be that voice that consistently doubts Hewson, while her troubled son finds a sense of hope through his mother with music.

Then there is Joseph Gordan-Levitt. He is good in this, but I truly find no purpose for him in the end. It’s nice that he believes in Hewson’s character, but there is no resolution for him. It really felt like he was just a choice to be added in because the budget could afford it and they needed a big-star name to get people to watch this. This is where the movie truly falls back. About half the movie is dedicated to a potential romance between him and Hewson’s character. Nothing ever happens. This is also where the film slows down considerably. Outside of that, the film has a great energy and pacing that makes up for its slower bits. It might have just been better to have him serve as a character that pushes her in the right direction over having a potential love interest that goes nowhere.

Overall, Flora and Son is not amongst the library’s most prestigious, and it’s not something that’s worth purchasing a subscription for the first time for this alone, but it hits all of the emotional and musical beats necessary to make the film worth watching if you already have Apple TV+.

VERDICT: Pretty Good