The Florida Project is the second film in Director Sean Baker’s young career. It’s a film that tackles a poverty stricken outskirt of Disneyworld and follows a child and her adventures with her friends and her irresponsible mother. A gorgeous and wonderful film that focuses on how life in poverty creates chaos and hardships for the common individual, The florida project smartly focuses on the children of the movie, who don’t see yet the reality of their situation, but instead see things in their own vulnerable, innocent and rebellious ways.
Their view of the world and how they spend their summer is the highlight of the film, along with Willem Dafoe’s tremendous oscar worthy performance as the owner of the Magic Castle Hotel, who acts as a guardian angel who is strict yet caring figure to the children and the residents of the motel, some of whom live there and pay rent under his supervision.What’s fascinating about the Florida Project is how honest it is in human interactions, and how poverty in these outskirts of the United States exist, and how life really is for children. It makes an audience realize that the stereotypes of the bottom levels of society we see are human as well and that their poverty is a result of their decision making and some of their lifestyles. This further makes the film more heartbreaking as we see these children be blind to the awful and unfortunate circumstances that surround them, some of which, the indirectly cause. Baker’s direction, script, as well as Dafoes mesmerizing performance and Brooklyn Prince’s stunning debut as Moonee.
The Florida Project gets an A