'A Little Prayer' Is a Little Miracle of a Film

Some folks may remember a small but quietly exquisite film from 2005 called Junebug, the movie that announced Amy Adams to the world. It was a tender, observant slice of Southern life, and its director Phil Morrison, writer Angus MacLachlan, and Adams herself earned well-deserved awards and attention. Adams, of course, went on to become Amy Adams. Morrison and MacLachlan largely slipped from view. At least, they did for me. Until now.

The writer of Junebug brings that same gentle, humane sensibility to A Little Prayer, a film he also directs. It premiered at Sundance in 2023 but did not receive a proper release until this year. Despite my affection for Junebug, and for A Little Prayer stars David Strathairn and Jane Levy, it somehow passed me by entirely until I spotted it on Chaz Ebert’s Best of 2025 list.

It should have been on everyone’s list. A Little Prayer is a quiet marvel. It is tender and aching and deeply, recognizably human. I hate that a film this good can drift through the streamer economy without the attention it deserves, but I hope it eventually finds a home on Netflix or elsewhere and reaches the audience waiting for it.

Jane Levy plays Tammy, the soft-spoken, deeply loving daughter-in-law of Bill (Strathairn) and Velinda (Celia Weston). She lives in a small house on their property with her husband, David (Will Pullen). Tammy is fully part of the family, and she shares a particularly close bond with Bill, who clearly loves her as if she were his own daughter.

But she is not his daughter. His actual daughter, Patti (Anna Camp), is a mess, trapped in a brutal marriage she keeps fleeing and returning to, dragging her own child back into the cycle. David, meanwhile, is no prize himself. He handles the books for Bill’s business, drinks too much, and is unfaithful to Tammy.

When Bill learns of his son’s infidelity, the weight of that knowledge settles heavily on him. He loves his flawed son, but he also loves Tammy, who has been nothing but kind and devoted to him and Velinda. He wants what is best for her, even if that means losing her. And there are other secrets, too, ones that surface quietly and leave lasting damage, breaking Bill’s heart and Tammy’s along with it.

There is a little bit of Junebug in Tammy, and as with Junebug, the film contains moments of quiet devastation. But it also shares that film’s belief in resilience, in inner strength, and in the essential goodness of its characters. A Little Prayer is not a sad film. It is a life-affirming one. Like Bob Trevino Likes It, it is a story about the power of being seen and truly seeing others in return. It lingers in the heart long after it ends, and I am deeply grateful to have found it.

‘A Little Prayer’ is available for purchase or rent in all the usual digital places. It is absolutely worth it. I hope you make it the last movie you see of 2025 or the first you see of 2026.