John Carney knows his lane, and he sticks to it. Just as Guillermo del Toro has mastered films with fanciful horror, and Miyazaki has cornered the market on wistful animated fantasy for all ages, Carney has breathed new life into independent musicals, with lovely films like Once, Sing Street, and Begin Again. None of the above-mentioned films necessarily break the mold in terms of characterizations or drama, but there’s a lived-in tenderness, along with a number of catchy songs, to each of them that breaks through. His latest, Flora and Son, coming to select theaters on Friday, is no exception.

Like his most recent film, the lovely Sing Street in 2016, Carney returns to his native Ireland to tell a sort of family drama around a mother, her adolescent son, and her ex-husband. The music this time around is less ear-wormy than Sing Street but no less impactful to the story. Flora and Son actually shares some similarities to 2018’s Wild Rose, in that it centers on a troubled mother who takes to music, but Carney’s film uses music as a uniting force rather than a far-off dream.

In fact, Flora (Eve Hewson) has no musical career aspirations – she simply finds a guitar in a dumpster and learns to play it after her teenage son Max (newcomer Oren Kinlan) turns it down. After combing through the internet for a suitable tutor, she lands on Jeff’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) page, and the two strike up an unlikely but friendly relationship. Hewson and Gordon-Levitt’s chemistry together works wonders for the film, in spite of them mostly speaking via Zoom (he lives in Los Angeles). He’s more interested in teaching her the philosophy of music, and what makes it perfect for expressing oneself. She’s more interested in his looks.

But it turns out Max also sees music as a way to kindle a romantic connection when he crushes on a girl that he sees dancing in a number of music videos outside their apartment, and some commonality between the two generations is found. Carney lets their closeness develop naturally, and it’s not always a smooth progression, as they occasionally let one another down. Kinlan and Hewson similarly feel effortlessly natural together, their banter feeling lived-in as they know what gets under one another’s skin, especially when it comes to Flora’s ex Ian (Jack Reynor).

If it wasn’t clear already, the cast here is great across the board. Hewson, mostly a supporting player in films and miniseries, shows that she’s a bona fide star as she handles all of Flora’s prickly sides, but still manages to show genuine warmth and a desire to do better. Kinlan feels naturally suited at playing the misguided teenager, compelled more frequently by his hormones than his better judgment. Reynor, a holdover from Sing Street leans into his scummy side, but still manages to show that a reconciliation with Flora could one day happen.

The music mostly comes as Jeff and Flora work on lessons together and she helps him develop a song that never took off for him. He’s a songwriter who never got his big break, and Gordon-Levitt leans into Jeff’s sadness at his missed opportunities in a smartly understated way. Flora and Son has its didactic moments and developments, but Carney doesn’t fly too close to the sun; stardom and fame are far from either Flora or Max’s ultimate goals. Rather, it’s the mending of a family unit that was once in tatters, on the verge of breaking for good, and finding music as the way to communicate in ways that words can’t. Just as crucially, the film doesn’t make Flora’s budding romance with Jeff the ultimate prize, though their flirtations provide plenty of enjoyable banter.

As with Carney’s two most recent films, music is something that can be shared and created by anyone, regardless of their financial status or level of experience. Max creates his hip-hop beats in Garage Band (I see what you did there, Apple), and Flora shoots his music video on her phone. It’s an understated sentiment that makes an impact nevertheless. Carney works best when he really sells the power of music, and while it’s not totally missing here, it would have helped to play into it a little more. Still, though it likely won’t rank amongst Carney’s best, Flora and Son belongs in the upper echelon of AppleTV+’s growing library, a film that’s enjoyable as it is rewatchable.

Flora and Son will be released in select theaters on Friday, and on AppleTV+ on September 29.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

• If Carney couldn’t score an Original Song nomination for any of the music in Sing Street, his chances are slimmer for the songs in Flora and Son. Though Apple is certainly a power player with Oscar campaigning (remember the Brian Tyree Henry nomination this year?) so don’t count it fully out of the picture just yet.