LONDON: If there is one thing John Carney loves, it’s a movie about the positive power of music. After all, the Irish director’s previous credits include “Once,” “Begin Again” and “Sing Street,” all of which focus on ways in which music can help broken people start to heal. So it’s no great surprise that “Flora and Son” — which won rave reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and is subsequently finding itself a wider audience — sees Carney and his engaging cast staying true to what the director knows. Desperate to connect with her troublesome son Max (Oren Kinlan), single mother Flora (Eve Hewson) finds and rescues a discarded guitar and encourages him to learn. When Max turns his nose up, Eve decides to take it up and signs up for online guitar lessons from LA teacher Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). As Max’s behavior deteriorates, Eve shares more of her life with Jeff, and the two grow closer during their sessions. If that all sounds a bit schmaltzy, it’s because it is. “Flora and Son” is not a film that needs a lot of deciphering, and Carney’s firm belief that baring your emotional soul brings healing is a far from subtle approach. There’s a slightly heavy-handed insistence that Flora, Max and Jeff are unquestionably willing to take risks, put themselves out there and trust that everything will be alright in the end — and it jars a little with the harsh reality with which Carney details Flora and Max’s life in Dublin. The heartbeat of “Flora and Son” is in its songs – though the movie makes the odd decision to use its best track halfway through and use a decidedly average one for the big, heartwarming finale. Hewson and Gordon-Levitt are scintillating, however, and Carney makes the wise artistic decision to shoot them together, depicting their growing relationship in metaphorical real life rather than limiting their screen time to zoom calls. It makes “Flora and Son” feel warm, cozy and aspirational, just like the best films — and songs — should be.