STORYLINE: It follows Flora, a single mom who is at war with her son, Max. Trying to find a hobby for Max, she rescues a guitar from a dumpster and finds that one person’s trash can be a family’s salvation.

     Not every movie has to be a five star feast.  Some can be a slice of life, such is the case of Flora and Son.  

    I went into this film with no expectation. It was basically something to see and I have enjoyed a film or two by the director.

     It did take me a few extra minutes to get into the film.  Once I was into the film I was really into it. I have seen this story done before in dozens of films and told dozens of ways. Flora and Som did have that Irish charm going for it.  That helped to elevate cookie cutter characters. In the end I did care for the characters. I think the way the film ended helped that.  Without spoiling anything what helped was that there was no pretty bow wrapped on the final scenes. 

    Director John Carney has used music as a story telling technique in his features. He did it well in Once and well in Sing Street and Begin Again.  Once again he uses music to tell the story in Flora and Son and like the previous films it works. 

     As a viewer I could tell this movie had been filmed during Covid.  The scenes featured minimal character interaction including one storyline told over zoom.  The majority of the scenes the characters were three feet apart.  We are in that time when films shot during the Covid era are being released. I suspect more and more films will feature techniques like those featured in this one.

     Until next time I will see you at the movies!!