A Little Prayer

In a quiet North Carolina suburb, Bill, David Strathairn runs a sheet metal factory with his son, David, Will Pullen. Bill’s wife Venida, Celia Weston guides tours of a local historical area, and David’s wife Tammy, Jane Levy works at Target. Because David and Tammy live in an adjacent house on the same lot as Bill and Venida, the four often share mornings, and Bill sometimes drives David to work.

One day at the office, Bill notices a charged interaction between David and one of their employees, Narcedalia, Dascha Polanco while David is rallying energy for their company’s weekly outing at the VFW (both Bill and David are veterans). When he confronts David about a possible affair, David doesn’t deny it and Bill chastises him before David urges Bill to stay out of his business.

Bill and Venida’s daughter Patti, Anna Camp arrives at the house unexpectedly, once again temporarily separated from her problematic husband. As Bill and Venida struggle with how they should support her and if that includes intervening, Tammy expresses infinite patience with Patti’s daughter Hadley, Billie Roy, quietly showcasing a natural parenting ability. Venida is bothered by Patti’s sense of entitlement and erraticism just as Bill is frustrated with David’s marital irresponsibility.

At their company’s VFW dance night, Bill dances with Narcedalia, whom he catches eyeing David as he flirts with another woman. Bill asks if she knows the woman and she does, saying that it is her best friend Bethany Ashley Shelton. Bill eventually sits with Bethany. Bethany, more than a little buzzed, freely shares information about the dysfunctional nature of the romantic relationship between David and Narcedalia.

Tammy is feeling more and more lonely despite having a loving friendship with Bill, who thanks her for making his lunch whereas David does not, and both of them appreciating the mysterious singing woman in the neighborhood. She privately takes an at-home pregnancy test which comes back positive. David continues to resist Bill’s attempts to push him to act better just like he tells him not to offer Patti money for a divorce lawyer.

Narcedalia resigns from the company, telling him that she got a better offer from a bank. Bill intimates that he knows about the affair by saying that it’s probably for the best. He then says that he will do what he can with the bank to inflate her salary and she thanks him.

Tammy gets an abortion and Venida figures it out before telling Bill. Before the next VFW dance night Bill corners David once again, this time bringing up the abortion without naming it. David promises he did not force her to do it and is stoic about matters until Bill lays out the potential consequences of his actions and David breaks down before driving off. At the VFW, Bill notices David having an angry conversation on the phone. Assuming he was witnessing some of the heated behavior Bethany described, he goes to Narcedalia’s house. A surprised Bethany opens the door, saying that she’s crashing there temporarily, and she invites him in for cocoa. Narcedalia gets home soon after. She attempts to be polite with Bill, telling him the affair is over, but as he wears out his welcome, she gets worked up and shares that she is pregnant. Bill asks if the baby is David and a defiant Narcedalia says that it is hers, implying that while David may be the biological father, he won’t have a role in this child’s life. She also reveals that David was verbally and physically abusive when she told him of the pregnancy and that he insisted she get an abortion.

Patti and Hadley return to Patti’s husband. Bill and Tammy have a lunch date together, visiting a small and local museum before eating together on a park bench. They share a deep conversation in which Bill advises her to get out of her marriage and Tammy agrees, noting that her one regret will be leaving the abiding friendship she’s created with Bill, as she believes they are kindred spirits.