“A Little Prayer” is a seemingly simple but undeniably intimate drama film which comes to show more much depth and complexity than expected. Via a series of little but revealing human moments among them, we get to know more and more about the main characters in the movie, and their aching humanity will leave a lasting impression on you after it is over.

Set in some suburban neighborhood of North Carolina, the story mainly revolves around Bill (David Strathairn) and his family. He and his son David (Will Pullen) have run a local factory together, and David is living with his wife Tammy (Jane Levy) right next to the house where Bill lives with his wife Venida (Celia Weston). In the opening scene, we see Tammy beginning another day with her parents-in-law not after waking up in her and David’s house, and we observe how close she is to Bill and Venida, who have regarded her as another child in their family.

However, it gradually turns out that there is a serious issue involved with David. Besides showing the signs of being a high-functioning alcoholic, he has also been having an affair with one of the employees of the factory. While Tammy does not know anything about that yet, Bill surely knows, and he becomes all the more conflicted and frustrated when his son does not seem so willing to do the right thing right now as advised by him at one point early in the story.

Rather than having its main characters merely driven by this tricky domestic circumstance, the movie takes more time for letting us get to know them bit by bit. There is a small scene showing Venida working as a guide for the visitors of a nearby historical site, and then we later see Bill attending the funeral of an old military comrade of his. Although it is just briefly mentioned that David served in the US Army several years ago just like his father did a long time ago, we gather that he has struggled with some PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) problem, and, as reflected by a brief but revealing conversation between him and one of his surviving military comrades, Bill understands that to some degree.

Meanwhile, the mood is perked up a bit by the sudden appearance of Bill’s daughter Patti (Anna Camp) and her little daughter. She is going through another difficult period of her rather messy life, and Bill and Venida are certainly worried about their daughter as before, but they are also glad to see their dear granddaughter again. Although she is often a bit too silent and distant, Hedley (Billie Roy) is gradually brightened up mainly thanks to Bill and Tammy, and that leads to several small but humorous moments for us.

Nevertheless, David’s extramarital affair remains as an issue to bother Bill a lot. When David’s married life seems more troubled than before, he seriously considers being more active about this issue, but then he is only reminded again of how life can usually be out of his control regardless of whether he likes it or not. Yes, there eventually comes a point where he comes to see David’s lover for a serious conversation, but their conversation turns out to be much more than expected to his little surprise.

The screenplay by director/writer/co-producer Angus MacLachlan, who previously wrote the screenplay for Phil Morrison’s Oscar-nominated film “Junebug” (2005), handles its main characters with a lot of care, insight, and sensitivity. During one key scene between Bill and his wife, a lot of things are exchanged between them on and beneath the surface, and that is more than enough for us to sense how much they have known and understood each other for years. While she looks shallow at first, Patti comes to show more human depth along the story, and the same thing can be said about David’s lover, who really knows what she wants for her life right now and has already decided what she is going to do about that.

And the movie depends a lot on another very good performance from David Strathairn, who has been one of the most dependable character actors working in Hollywood for more than 40 years (Raise your hand if you still fondly remember his scene-stealing supporting performance in Phil Alden Robinson’s “Sneakers” (1992)!). Even during those wordless moments in the movie, he subtly conveys to us all those feelings and thoughts churning behind his character’s reserved appearance, and his excellent performance steadily holds the film to the end as its humble emotional anchor.

Several other main cast members in the film are equally solid as the other crucial parts of the story. Celia Weston, another dependable veteran performer who incidentally played a supporting character in “Junebug”, effortlessly interacts with Strathairn, and we instantly accept their characters’ enduring relationship right from the beginning. Will Pullen, Anna Camp, Ashley Shelton, Billie Roy, and Dascha Polanco are also effective in their respective parts, and Jane Levy has a very moving moment with Strathairn when their characters open themselves a bit more to each other around the end of the story. Although they care a lot about each other, Bill and Tammy have to accept how things will soon change for both of them, and the bittersweet quality of this scene may take you back to that touching moment between the old hero of Yasujirō Ozu’s “Tokyo Story” (1953) and his daughter-in-law.

Overall, “A Little Prayer” is a small but precious little gem which has been unfortunately overlooked since it was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival early in 2023. It was shown at the 2025 Ebertfest in last April, and then it was released in US theaters several months later, but it still did not get much attention nonetheless. In short, this is a sublime human drama of goodwill and decency, and, considering how things have getting worse and worse around us these days, we surely need something like this more than before.