Soundtrack Spotlight: Flora and Son

(Credit: Apple TV+)

A couple of weeks ago, my mum and I watched the Apple Original film, Flora and Son, from the comfort of our sofa. This charming film, featuring notable actors Eve Hewson, Josh Raynor and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, centres on how a young mother uses the power of music to connect with her distant son. Sure, it was cheesy at times, but that’s everybody’s guilty pleasure. Nevertheless, we were left feeling pretty moved and inspired by how Flora found purpose and a sense of motherhood in learning guitar. 

Flora and Son is no blockbuster - it’s stripped-back cinematography with a simple storyline at its core. No epic, lavish score either. Instead, the film’s soundtrack is filled with songs composed masterfully by Gary Clark and director John Carney, and performed by the actors themselves. The unfiltered composition and production of the songs help elevate the audience’s experience of the film; sure, it’s a light, feel-good watch, but the soundtrack makes it feel very raw and real at the same time.

The main characters each have a unique relationship to music. Flora’s ex, played by Josh Raynor, is a struggling artist with a superiority complex, who sees music as a business. Flora’s online guitar teacher (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has an almost divine, spiritual connection to music, and tries to encourage others to develop theirs as well. At the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, Joseph 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."

Now, as for Flora - she wants to impress people. Particularly the soft-spoken, charming guitar teacher on her screen. Before learning the guitar, Flora appears to be aimlessly drifting through life without much of a purpose, struggling with a son who doesn’t get along with her. However, when Flora starts showing interest in songwriting and finding her voice, this is where the magic happens.

Flora isn’t the only one finding solace in music. After getting into repeated spats with the police, rebellious teen Max (played wonderfully by Oren Kinlan) is on his last warning. A policeman tells Flora to find her son a hobby, to help keep him out of trouble. After dragging a guitar out of a skip, and failing to get Max’s interest, Flora decides to learn how to play herself. However, wanting to impress some local girls in his block - Max comes around of his own accord, starting to make Garageband beats from his bedroom.

Oren Kinlan’s Dublin07 is witty and fun. It sounds like it’s composed of Apple Loops and free sample packs. A few adlibs from Flora are even scattered throughout, adding that much more sparkle to the song while still giving it the feel of a school media project. The track does its job perfectly - conveying the excitement and experiences of a teen who’s just started making beats to impress his friends, and the audience feels happy for Max because he’s just made something he can call his own. The same goes for ‘I’ll be the One’, which is a simple lo-fi track with some acoustic guitar chords thrown in. This song accompanies a sweet montage of Max and Flora making a music video for the song, laughing together for perhaps the first time in the entire film. 

‘Meet in the Middle’ features Flora and her teacher, Jack, fantasising about taking a road trip together, and it is filled with earnestness. I’ve seen plenty of comments on YouTube from fans of the film, expressing that this was their favourite song on the soundtrack. And it’s understandable, because it’s a stripped-back love song that doesn’t shy away from being a bit crude, whilst maintaining an air of familiarity and cosiness. Against a montage of Hewson and Gordon-Levitt staring lovingly at one another on a Crumlin rooftop, the song is an ode to the long-distance bond Flora and Jack have formed, as they sing “maybe we could find a little city no one knows”. 

The most pivotal track is probably High Life, adding a final flair of optimism to the film. Flora and Max attend an open mic at a local Dublin venue, managing to drag Flora’s crabby ex (Max’s dad) along for the ride. For a few moments, up on the stage, they all look like one happy family. But, of course, they’re not - and they’re not supposed to be. Flora sings honestly of struggling as a mother but trying to understand that her son struggles too. Max's rap during the bridge shows that music provides a channel for him to say everything he wants to say. For the first and last time, he’s an open book, telling his mother “All you feel, I feel the same loss.” 

The song celebrates that while Flora and her son might have their differences, they’re all each other has got. They’re living their high life, a world that they have carved out for themselves, which nobody but them could understand.

All in all - the Flora and Son soundtrack is a charming listening experience that helps segment the journeys of its central characters. If you haven’t seen the film already, it’s worth getting an Apple TV subscription just to watch it. It’s also worth adding that while you’re at it, go and binge Bad Sisters - the incredibly engaging drama that brought the talented Eve Hewson into the limelight.

by Lina Adams