Review: The Florida Project

Looming constantly in the background of Sean Baker's The Florida Project is The Magic Kingdom. It represents a life that the characters in this heartfelt and wisely observed film will never have. They instead inhabit the Magic Castle, a rundown lavender colored motel in Orlando. Despite not being able to experience the Disney magic, the day-to-day imaginations of a young girl and her posse is full of the magic of childhood.

Moonee is a brassy, lively and sassy six-year-old played by the amazing Brooklynn Prince, whose performance is destined to be mentioned a lot at the end of the year. So will Willem Dafoe who plays Bobby the manager of the motel who gets overly involved in the lives of his guest. Moonee mother is played by newcomer Bria Vinaite. She is also a knockout here. 

Parents will watch The Florida Project in horror at times as Halley is not a great mom. Moonee and her best friend Scooty (Christopher Rivera) get into all kinds of trouble. They curse at people, steal and set fire to a abandoned building because neither child has any kind of parental supervision. Halley recently lost her job at a strip club and now makes Moonee help her sell knockoff perfume to tourists. Her behavior becomes increasingly dangerous as desperation sets in.

All of the time, Moonee is oblivious to the dismal nature of her surroundings. Instead she makes her world about exploration and discovering new things. Even when she gets in trouble for spitting on a car, she ends up turning it into something fun. The bleak nature of Halley and her immoral decisions constantly rubs up against the adventurous would Moonee inhabits. Baker finds so much beauty here from odd buildings to cramped motel rooms. He captures a unique quality of childhood, the way in which imagination can overtake reality and change boredom into fun.

Cinematographer Alexis Zabe shoots in 35mm and saturates the images with bright colors. He often keeps the camera low to help create a sense of a child's perspective. An ice cream stand becomes something of a low-rent amusement park attraction with the way Zabe frames each shot. 

Baker is a true original filmmaker, able to capture a realness that few can. His use of non-actors here never shows and instead informs so much of the film's emotional resonance. In addtions, this is one of Dafoe's best performances. There is deep humanity present in The Florida Project. The film made me feel the danger, magic and sadness of childhood in a way I haven't seen since Beasts of the Southern Wild. This is one of the best films of the year. I am truly fascinated by the picture of America it paints.

5/5