The truth is that, especially when you hear it’s from the writer of “Junebug,” Angus MacLachlan’s “A Little Prayer” has a relatively predictable path to follow. However, that doesn’t stop it from having an impact. There’s a reason we watch well-done family dramedies like this one over and over again. We see ourselves or the people we know in them. And if we believe the emotion of these characters, the familiarity of it all doesn’t matter. “A Little Prayer” is an old-fashioned family drama, a movie that cares about its people more than any high concept, and one that wants you to get to know them in a way that makes you care for them. One of the most moving films you’ll see this year, it’s also a fantastic platform for the phenomenal Jane Levy and the legendary David Strathairn, a performer who seems incapable of delivering a false performance.

The star of “Nomadland” plays Bill, a decent man in an ordinary-looking section of Winston-Salem. He still works at the business he founded and lives with his wife Venida (the wonderful Celia Weston). His son David (Will Pullen) not only works for him but lives out back with his wife Tammy (Jane Levy), who has become a beloved part of Bill and Venida’s life. She comes over every morning and chats with Bill, and Levy and Strathairn find perfect chemistry from their very first encounter. We instantly believe that Bill sees Tammy in a sort of daughter role, someone he cares for greatly. The problem is that David may not have the same decency as his father.

Early on, Bill discovers that David is not only struggling with the bottle but fidelity, sleeping with a woman at work (the always-welcome Dascha Polanco) when he’s not drunkenly stumbling home. As Bill considers how he can persuade his son to be a more upstanding human being, his daughter Patti (Anna Camp) comes home with her daughter, both of them fleeing a bad situation with Patti’s husband. Patti isn’t a very supportive mother or child, and seems inconsiderate of those around her, although the film is more forgiving of her given her marital predicament. However, it’s telling that her kid is more drawn to spend time with Tammy than her own mother.

Strathairn understands Bill, a man who finds himself questioning the bad influence he could have been to create selfish children. The truth is that it becomes harder and harder to persuade our kids to behave in a certain way as they grow older, even as their problems continue to impact our lives. MacLachlan’s script smartly conveys how much influence David and Patti’s behavior still has on their parents, even as their parents can no longer discipline them.

While I admire the old-fashioned structure of MacLachlan’s script and the gentle discipline of his direction—it’s a very quietly cut film with the director allowing many scenes to unfold almost like a play—the truth is that this is a performance piece through and through. Everyone is good to great, but it belongs to Strathairn and Levy, whose bond becomes the center of the film. It reaches an emotional crescendo in two scenes that Levy absolutely nails, never giving into the melodrama of each, finding their truth instead. You come to care about Tammy and Bill, and hope they figure their way through this knotty mess of family drama. The best films in this genre are passed down through recommendations not because of what happens but because of who it happens to. I’ll be thinking about Bill and Tammy all year.