Irish films have got themselves a little bit of a reputation as being ones to flick on and watch when you need something light hearted or heart warming. Flora and Son fits right into that category, furthering the lie that we’re all good people just looking to pick up some sort of musical hobby.
Having Sing Street in your credits, sets up pretty high expectations that I don’t think Flora and Son quite met, but at the same time, wasn’t a disappointment. I think the heart and international treasure Eve Hewson saved this from being anything less than “ah nice”. The film is painfully Irish in its dialogue, capturing the nature of these relationships so perfectly, blending hurt with humour, as the Irish tend to do.
Flora is a single mother to a fourteen year old Max, who is in and out of trouble with school and the police. He feels very abandoned by both his mum and his musician dad. They have a pretty combative relationship on all sides, with Max lashing out at Flora in almost every opening scene to the film. The fracture continues to Max’s dad Ian, who lives with his new girlfriend Juanita.
Flora gets max a guitar as a birthday present after seeing one in a skip during her walk home, which he ungratefully rejects, leading Flora to pick up the six string and give it a go with online lessons. She skips through all types of teachers before landing on Jack, who offers online lessons through Zoom, from his idyllic Californian background.
She decides to take on the challenge and gets strumming with Jack. They have a pretty instant and flirty connection through the lesson, chatting more than playing. Jack keeps Flora at arms length for the first few sessions, until he plays a song for her, and for the first time, appears in front of her rather than on the screen.
These moments where Flora and jack share the same space are so filled with chemistry, as they both bounce off each other so well. They seem to really understand each other, even if they are actually chatting through a screen with a 13 hour flight in between them
The other connection that builds, is shockingly the one between Flora and Son (Max), after she finds out he has been using Garage band to make songs. Flora gets excited about her son’s hidden talent, rushing into making a song with him in order to woo a girl that Max is interested in.
They work on the song along with shooting a first music video in a fun bonding scene between the two, one that Max later recalls as one of his favourite days that he’s ever had.
Through making the songs and music video, they form a quiet connection, not fully healing but getting to a healthier place.
Other than the accurate Irishness captured in the film, I like the relationships the most. They are complicated and not fixed by one action or built by one conversation. Flora and Max have a lot of work to do to get to a better place in their relationship, with Max going through being a teenager the first major obstacle. Ian and Flora slowly build up to a better co-parenting
relationship, with a bright view on working together to bring up Max. Flora and Jack don’t rush into anything, with grand gestures and over the top exclamations, they excitedly find each other and spend the film figuring each other out.
The story is good on its own, but is dragged down a little by the creation. They opt for a pretty heavy grade on the film, with a strong vignette making the indoor scenes feel a little claustrophobic. On top of that, it is not balanced with the almost washed out look to the external scenes, making the film look a little lower budget. This grade is a shame because the camera work is quite nice, with a small feel to it, without feeling cheap or restrictive.
Considering John Carney’s musical talents, I was a little disappointed by the songs in the film, leaning into the amateur nature of the characters creating the songs. I didn’t get any new songs to randomly sing along to at intervals throughout my day, just some genuine songs from people who are learning what they’re doing. Not so much a complaint, more of a misplaced expectation on my part.
The film is not perfect, but the people behind it are ones I enjoy the work of and will continue to be excited for their next projects. I think John Carney has an innate ability to make me like his characters and feel happy in the world he’s placed me in. The story is good, but could have been great, if tightened up or shifted the time it took place. I would have liked a bit more to it, as if this story was the start of a great story, just one that we didn’t get to see all of.
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