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There’s no catchy hook or high concept that I can offer to entice you to watch “A Little Prayer,” one of my favorite movies from last year. The story unfolds in a series of quiet, understated moments, with major developments often conveyed in small gestures or meaningful looks. But those simple interactions add up to an emotionally powerful experience, a heartfelt character study about a close-knit but troubled family in a sleepy North Carolina suburb.
It’s no surprise that it took a while for “A Little Prayer” to catch on, then. It premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews but didn’t make it to theaters until more than two years later, after losing its initial distribution deal. The limited theatrical release didn’t attract much attention, but now that the movie is available to stream on Prime Video, it deserves to finally find a wider audience.
It’s a modest but deeply affecting family drama, the kind of movie that sneaks up on you and leaves you in tears by the end.
‘A Little Prayer’ tells a quiet but powerful story
“A Little Prayer” opens with the low-key morning routine of the Brass family on a typical day. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the way that Bill Brass (David Strathairn) and his son David (Will Pullen) get ready to head for work at their family-owned sheet metal company. David and his wife Tammy (Jane Levy) live in a guest house on his parents’ property, and Tammy has an easy rapport with Bill as she packs lunches and fills a weekly pill case. The most telling interaction comes when Bill and David leave for work, as Bill thanks Tammy for his lunch, and David says nothing.
It would be easy to miss that tiny difference, but it defines the relationships at the center of the story. Bill is an upstanding, old-fashioned — but not intolerant — guy, who’s stood by his daughter-in-law while his son was twice deployed overseas. Bill is a combat veteran as well, and that dual status is a key selling point for the sheet metal company’s customers, even if it weighs on the minds of both father and son in different ways.
Bill, who fought in Vietnam, has had more time to process his experiences, and he seems comfortable and casual with fellow Vietnam vets at the VFW where company employees gather for after-work drinks once a week. David is more volatile, with a short temper and a potential drinking problem.
Writer-director Angus MacLachlan conveys these important pieces of character development mostly in the background, and Bill himself also has to piece together information from hints and insinuations. As much as he cherishes the connection he and his wife Venida (Celia Weston) have with Tammy, he knows that something isn’t quite right in David and Tammy’s marriage, and his suspicions are confirmed after he sees David getting a bit too close with company receptionist Narcedalia (Dascha Polanco).
At the same time, Bill is dealing with further domestic drama when his daughter Patti (Anna Camp) shows up unexpectedly with her sullen little girl Hadley (Billie Roy), having once again left her deadbeat husband. “She brought her metal detector,” Venida observes dryly when Patti arrives. “She left him.”
That kind of deadpan matter-of-factness characterizes MacLachlan’s naturalistic but memorable dialogue, as the characters make sharp, often heartbreaking observations about the mundane but heavy challenges they face.
‘A Little Prayer’ is defined by powerhouse performances
At its core, “A Little Prayer” is the story of a decent man realizing that he raised two children who’ve grown into kind of terrible people, and that there’s no longer anything he can do to rectify that. “Was I a bad father?” Bill asks Venida, and while she would never say that he was, it’s clear that he also wasn’t always the father his children needed, despite his best intentions. Strathairn beautifully expresses Bill’s confusion and disappointment at a stage in his life when things ought to be settled and serene.
Levy matches him as the outwardly sunny but deeply melancholy Tammy, who values her bond with Bill just as much as he does. She’s the child he wishes he had, and he’s the father she wishes she had, after a troubled upbringing that remains only vaguely explained. There’s no need for the film to lay out every detail of these characters’ pasts when Strathairn and Levy can capture their pure love and respect with just the way they walk together.
There are no easy answers in the final scene between Bill and Tammy, and neither of them will ever figure out a way to heal all of the family’s fractures. Strathairn and Levy find the sweetness and wonder in that uncertainty, without compromising the story’s complexity. They’re both underrated performers who make the most of this unassuming showcase for their talents.
There are some heated confrontations in “A Little Prayer,” but they’re never melodramatic or overwrought, instead playing out with the rhythms of real life. That may not make for a splashy film-festival premiere or theatrical release, but it’s perfect for home viewing, with an openness to the messiness of family relationships — and some tissues at hand.
“A Little Prayer” is now streaming on Prime Video
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