The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Show reviews
    • Interviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Cannes
      • Sundance London
      • Venice
      • London
  • Music
    • Live music
    • Album reviews
    • Interviews
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
    • Fringe
    • Vault Festival
    • Interviews
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Interviews
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join the team
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Culture Cinema & Tv Movie reviews

Flora and Son

Flora and Son | Movie review
22nd September 2023
Andrew Murray
Avatar
Andrew Murray
22 September 2023

Movie and show review

Andrew Murray

Flora and Son

★★★★★

Release date

29th September 2023

Platform

Apple TV+

There’s nothing more endearing in cinema than the feel-good combination of music and romance. Filmmaker John Carney has proven this with the likes of Once, Begin Again and Sing Street, and he once again demonstrates the strengths of the genre with Flora and Son. A selection of catchy tunes alongside a warm sense of humour makes for a wonderfully entertaining time. 

The plot follows single mother Flora (a sensational Eve Hewson) who lives in a small flat in Dublin with her delinquent son Max (Orén Kinlan). When the police encourage the teenager to find a hobby, Flora fishes out a beat-up acoustic guitar from a skip for his birthday. But when he rejects the gift, Flora decides to take online lessons from a talented guitarist from LA (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). A spark of romance ignites between the pair, and Flora begins to connect with Max over their shared love of music.

Much like his other works, Carney’s latest film is imbued with a wry sense of humour that’s equal parts playful and charming, the bulk of which is found in Hewson’s ability to deliver lines with impeccable comedic timing and sharp wit. For all her character’s flaws (of which there are many), Hewson’s lively onscreen presence makes it impossible not to root for her throughout the entirety of the runtime.

At the core of this feature is a tender story about a mother and son mending their fractured relationship. Carey navigates these plot beats with care to create some genuinely heartwarming moments. However, this touching harmony is lost within the racket of everything else that’s going on within a script that gets increasingly cluttered. The movie develops a habit of establishing and abandoning plotlines whenever something new crops up in the protagonist’s life. Consequently, the long-distance relationship between Flora and her tutor becomes less relevant as the narrative goes on.

While the film attempts to salvage the dangling mess of plot threads with a final uplifting song, meant to demonstrate the power of music through collaboration, the slapdash nature of the climax nevertheless leaves a hollowness that no upbeat pop song can fill.

Hewson is the heart and soul of Flora And Son. However, Carney’s latest venture doesn’t shine as brightly as his previous outings.

★★★★★

Andrew Murray

Flora and Son is released on Apple TV+ on 29th September 2023.

Watch the trailer for Flora and Son here:

Related Itemsapple tvfilmFlora and Sonmoviereview

More in Movie reviews

Candy Cane Lane

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Eileen

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

Wish

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Girl

★★★★★
Umar Ali
Read More

Maestro

★★★★★
Filippo L'Astorina, the Editor
Read More

The Eternal Daughter

★★★★★
Selina Sondermann
Read More

Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything

★★★★★
Umar Ali
Read More

Rustin

★★★★★
Matthew McMillan
Read More

Napoleon

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Andrew Murray

Flora and Son

★★★★★

Release date

29th September 2023

Platform

Apple TV+

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Candy Cane Lane
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Candy Cane Lane
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Eileen
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Girl
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • The House of Bernarda Alba at the National Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Wish
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen at Bush Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Girl
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
  • Contact us
  • Join the team
  • Subscribe to the mailing list
  • Support us
  • Writing for The Upcoming

Copyright © 2011-2023 FL Media