It tells its tale of love, community and redemption with soap-operatic mood swings and a true believer's faith in the transcendent powers of music.

As It Is in Heaven works best as a thematic piece of art. It's a statement on the ugliness of humanity and the power of music to wound, but then heal.

... splits the difference between heartwarming small town comedy of an outsider bonding with eccentric inhabitants and spiky drama of the insular town...

Doesn't avoid all the pitfalls, [but] it plays things out quirkily enough to surprise and engage us.