"The Florida Project" made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival last year and gained critical acclaim. I first heard about the film during the awards season when one of its actors Willem Dafoe earned nominations for Best Supporting Actor in the Golden Globes, SAG, BAFTA and the Oscars. Given its indie nature and mostly unknown cast, I was surprised that it actually got a commercial release in local cinemas.
This film brings us into a segment of America we do not see. It paints an ironic picture of kids growing up in poverty while living in a cheap Florida motel, practically next door to Walt Disney World. Moonee is a precocious six-year old girl who played all day long with her friends. She gets into all sorts of trouble with her naughty antics, mostly because she was unsupervised by her potty-mouthed, pothead young mother Hailey.
It is never comfortable to watch how delinquent kids become the way they are. Here, you can still see the sweetness and innocence of Moonee, yet because of her mother's negligence, she already has a rude attitude and vulgar language at her tender age. Hailey clearly loves Moonee, but she was so consumed with the misery of her own existence that she cannot teach her daughter the right things.
This is one mother-daughter portrait that was sad, sorry, unhealthy and unpretty, but the actresses who played them both gave unforgivingly honest breakthrough performances in their feature film debuts. Moonee is played by 7-year old Brooklynn Prince. Hailey is played by 24 year-old Bria Vinante. Their chemistry together was so natural and unaffected, which made the tragedy of their situation even more difficult to watch. Their portrayals were so real, such that you'd want to intervene and rescue them both out their dead-end lives.
Willem Dafoe played Bobby Hicks, the manager of the Magic Castle, the motel where Hailey and Moonee lived. He did not only take care of the property, but he also showed concern for his tenants, especially the children. He understood how difficult life was for his tenants, that he made special arrangements in order to accommodate their deficiencies. Dafoe gave Hicks a heart of gold that made him a hero to admire despite his personal faults.
Writer-director Sean Baker told his story mostly from the point of view of Moonee. This gave the film a certain whimsical vibe and sense of humor that made the serious topics tackled more bearable to sit through its 111 minute running time. The film understood the special psychology children possessed to protect themselves and escape from the harshness of reality. I certainly needed that buffer of a child's levity to appreciate this film more, ultimately making it more unforgettable. 7/10.
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