A Little Prayer

Name: A Little Prayer
Genre: Drama
Released: August 29, 2025
Duration: 91 min
Rating: 86
Cast: Amy Marie Murphy, Anna Camp, Billie Roy, Celia Weston, Dascha Polanco

2025

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 16 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tbd	Your Score
tbd	User Score No score yet

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Movie Details & Credits

Music Box Films | Release Date: August 29, 2025 | R

Starring: Amy Marie Murphy, Anna Camp, Billie Roy, Celia Weston, Dascha Polanco, David Strathairn, Jane Levy, Martha Bassett, Viktor Hernandez, Will Pullen

Summary: Bill (David Strathairn), a Vietnam veteran who has lived in suburban Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for decades with his wife, Venida (Celia Weston), confronts the limits of patriarchal power while parenting his adult children, both of whom are experiencing personal difficulties. Their son David (Will Pullen), is a PTSD-stricken veteranBill (David Strathairn), a Vietnam veteran who has lived in suburban Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for decades with his wife, Venida (Celia Weston), confronts the limits of patriarchal power while parenting his adult children, both of whom are experiencing personal difficulties. Their son David (Will Pullen), is a PTSD-stricken veteran whom Bill suspects of cheating on his wife Tammy (Jane Levy). Tammy and Bill have a special bond for a father and daughter-in-law and appear to completely understand each other, so when he believes his son has strayed, he is at a loss for how to proceed. Meanwhile Patti (Anna Camp), their wilder child, unexpectedly arrives with their granddaughter Hadley (Billie Roy), having left her opioid-addicted husband Cassius for the third time. Bill's every thought is consumed by worries about these three adult children. The heartbreak he so desperately wants to spare them from is something he struggles with, as does how to best support them in their challenges. He attempts to maintain his composure in the face of chaos and eventually discovers the limits of patriarchal interference, for better or worse.… Expand

Director: Angus MacLachlan

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 91 min

See All Details and Credits

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Ty Burr

Aug 28, 2025

All of “A Little Prayer” is alive in its modest way to the beauty and the disappointment of human existence. MacLachlan has given us Ozu in the heartland, and I can think of no greater praise than that. Read full review

The Film Stage Jake Kring-Schreifels

Feb 1, 2023

It’s hard to find sensitive little movies like this. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Aug 30, 2025

Up until its final scene, I thought A Little Prayer was an entirely decent and poignant piece of work. But its closing scene between Bill and Tammy, those two self-described kindred spirits, moved me more than anything I’ve seen all year. It’s an infinitely touching expression of the love that one human being can have for another. Read full review

Sheri Linden

Jan 28, 2023

The emotional impact of A Little Prayer doesn’t so much detonate as unfold, a series of quiet epiphanies, well-observed and elegant in their awkward yearning. Read full review

Alex Saveliev

Dec 2, 2025

Dispenses with all the flourishes and focuses purely on the story and the characters, the gentle humor and the heartrending moments. It all leads up to a wonderful final scene, a knockout punch that cements MacLachlan as one of cinema’s indie greats. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Aug 25, 2025

It’s about parenting, the job that never ends and the parents who never stop second-guessing how they’re managing it. Beautifully cast, summery and bittersweet with moments of dry wit, “Prayer” is a small scale tragedy in light, deft strokes. Read full review

Marshall Shaffer

Aug 24, 2025

The film patiently illustrates how places imprint themselves upon us and guide our actions. Read full review

SEE ALL 16 REVIEWS

User Score

Write a Review

tbd

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

No reviews yet.