''Flora and Son'' is a 2023

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film written and directed by John Carney, featuring original songs by Carney and Gary Clark. The film stars

Eve Hewson Eve Hewson (born Memphis Eve Sunny Day Iris Hewson; 7 July 1991) is an Irish actress, whose father is the singer Bono. Her first major role was in the 2011 drama film '' This Must Be the Place'', and she made her television debut as Nurse Lucy E ...

Jack Reynor Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish-American actor. His notable roles include the films ''What Richard Did'', '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'', '' Glassland'', ''Macbeth'', ''Sing Street'', and ''Midsommar'', as well as the serie ...

, Orén Kinlan, and

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

. ''Flora and Son'' had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

on January 22, 2023, and was given a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on September 22, 2023, to be followed by a wide release in Ireland on February 23, 2024. It also began streaming on

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

worldwide on September 29, 2023. It received positive reviews from critics and was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2023 by the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

Premise

Flora, a single mother living in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, is having trouble with her estranged son Max, a rebellious teenage petty thief. Encouraged by the Gardaí to find Max a hobby, Flora rescues an old guitar from a

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aidin ...

and, with the help of a Los Angeles-based online guitar teacher, discovers that one person's rubbish can be another person's salvation.

Cast

as Flora *

as Ian * Orén Kinlan as Max *

as Jeff *

Don Wycherley Don Wycherley (born 15 September 1967, Skibbereen, County Cork) is an Irish actor. He played Father Cyril McDuff in ''Father Ted'', Father Aidan O'Connell in ''Ballykissangel'', and Raymond in ''Bachelors Walk''. Wycherley is a fluent Irish sp ...

as guard *

Sophie Vavasseur Sophie Vavasseur (born 10 May 1992) is an Irish actress best known for her award-nominated role as Evelyn Doyle in the Republic of Ireland, Irish film ''Evelyn (2002 film), Evelyn''. Career Born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the fo ...

as Juanita *

Kelly Thornton Kelly Thornton (born 13 April 1997) is an Irish actress who began her career as a child actress. She is best known for her roles as Corrina Mallon in the 2015 RTÉ drama '' Clean Break'' and Emma in the film '' Life's a Breeze'' (2013), which ...

as Heart

Production

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place on location in

. Hewson and Gordon-Levitt were photographed with guitars while filming in

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Ameri ...

in July 2022.

Music

Original songs for the film come from Carney and Gary Clark, with Clark also writing the score. Clark and Carney had previously collaborated on music for film, stage and television. Speaking at the

2023 Sundance Film Festival The 2023 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to 29, 2023. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 7, 2022. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * ''The Accidental Getaway Driver'', directed by Sing J. Lee * ...

, Gordon-Levitt was quoted as saying "I finally got to play music in a movie! It's really true, I've always wanted to do it and I’ve always been a musician at heart and love doing it. I’ve learned to do many things for movies. I've learned to walk on a tightrope or play hockey or, certainly, lots of fighting and shooting and things like that. But this time I was practicing a skill that I've practiced most of my life, but having to do it at a bit more of a skill level than what I was used to." Hewson could play the guitar before they made the film and said all singing she does on screen is her and told ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' although she had to overcome a "massive, massive fear" of singing in the film, she never turned to her father (musician

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

) for musical tips: "I'd rather sing in front of the entire world."

Release

''Flora and Son'' premiered at the

on January 22, 2023. The songs reportedly produced a "spontaneous clap-a-long and rapturous standing ovation" during its first screening. Two days after premiering,

Apple Studios Apple Studios is an American film and television production company and a distributor that is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It specializes in developing and producing television series and films for Apple's digital video streaming service Apple TV ...

bought the distribution rights for "just under" $20 million. It was screened at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

on September 7, 2023. It was released in select theaters in the United States on September 22, 2023, before streaming worldwide on

starting September 29, 2023. It is scheduled to be released in Irish cinemas on February 23, 2024.

Critical reception

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, Kyle Smith called the film his favorite of the year.

Accolades

References

External links

''Flora and Son''
on

* {{Authority control 2023 comedy-drama films 2023 independent films 2023 films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s musical comedy-drama films American independent films American musical comedy-drama films Apple TV+ original films English-language Irish films FilmNation Entertainment films Films about guitars and guitarists Films about mother–son relationships Films directed by John Carney Films set in Dublin (city) Films shot in Dublin (city) Irish independent films Irish musical comedy-drama films