A lovely film that has had quite a path to distribution will finally be arriving to close out the summer. Junebug writer Angus MacLachlan’s latest feature A Little Prayer premiered back at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival where it was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. After undisclosed reasons, the deal fell apart and now Music Box Films has come to the rescue, setting an August 29 release for the drama starring David Strathairn, Jane Levy, Will Pullen, Celia Weston, Dascha Polanco, and Anna Camp. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has now arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “Bill (David Strathairn) is a pillar of his Southern community: a business owner, a veteran, and the proud patriarch of an unruly but loving family. His daughter Patti (Anna Camp) has returned home after the collapse of her marriage, while his son David (Will Pullen) struggles to stay afloat. He has brought David into the family business, but harbors doubts about his discipline and commitment. Bill gravitates towards Tammy (Jane Levy), his daughter-in-law and the only other person in his rambunctious household who values contemplation and repose. When Bill begins to suspect that David may be straying from his marital vows with a coworker (Dascha Polanco), the father must confront the perplexing inscrutability of his son’s choices and their consequences for the rest of the family. A heart-tugging drama about finding kindred spirits in unexpected places, A Little Prayer is a sensitive and searching portrait of an American family from writer-director Angus MacLachlan.”
Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his review, “In the quiet, peaceful mornings that ease your way into writer-director Angus MacLachlan’s A Little Prayer, a woman belts out gospel songs that echo down the block. They’re a bleary-eyed nuisance to many waking in this small, North Carolina neighborhood, but Bill Brass (David Straitharn) and his daughter-in-law Tammy (Jane Levy) have a mutual fascination with them, rising early with curiosity and wonder. Why does she sing them? Where do they come from exactly? The pair eventually attempt to investigate their leafy streets to find the source, yet as the spirituals dissipate and leave them alone in bird-chirping silence, they seem to revel in their beautiful, unsolved mystery.”
See the trailer below.