The Florida Project (2017)

A film that reminds you what it was like to be a child, The Florida Project has quickly become one of my all-time favourites for so many reasons, least of which is the performances of the cast.

Six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) lives with her single mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) in a motel right on the outskirts of Disney World in Florida. The two of them have a relatively simple life, with Moonee spending most of her time running amok around the local area with her best friend Scooty (Christopher Rivera), and Halley spending most of her time smoking in their room - despite the fact the rooms are supposed to be smoke-free.

Not long after the film begins, Moonee and Scooty meet another girl, Jancey (Valeria Cotto) who lives in the motel next door with her younger sister, and their grandmother (Josie Olivo).

The three of them become thick as thieves, and spend their summer break getting into all sorts of mischief, much to the chagrin of motel manager Bobby (Willem Dafoe).

L-R: Scooty (Christopher Rivera), Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and Jancey (Valeria Cotto).

Moonee’s mother Halley is far from the perfect parent, but one thing is clear: the two of them love each other very much, and would do anything to be together, albeit against the odds, especially after Halley is reported to Child Services for her negligent and in many ways dangerous behaviour.

Bobby - the long-suffering manager - puts up with a lot, not just from Moonee and Halley, but from all his tenants, almost all of whom are long-term residents, trying to have a liveable life in an environment and facilities that were never meant for long-term living. His love for his job - and more importantly, for the people he finds himself at the mercy of - is ever evident.

But it is definitely the interactions between the three young children that make this film what it is: a beautiful, heartfelt portrait of what it is to be young, curious and adventurous. A lot of the scenes featuring the children have an somewhat improvised feel to them - in a good way - and all of them feel very naturalistic and virtually unscripted.

Halley (Bria Vinaite) and Moonee (Brooklynn Prince).

There is a script, however - as mentioned, I’m not sure how rigid it is in the scenes led by the three young performers - written by Sean Baker, who also directed the film & Chris Bergoch. It is a very clever screenplay, full of plenty of conflict, and plenty of twists and turns. Trust me, there are moments in this film you will never see coming, and an ending that will bring you to tears - guaranteed. I’ve said this occasionally before in earlier reviews, but only the most heartless viewer could come away from this film without shedding tears.

Alexis Zabe’s cinematography may not be particularly complex or distinctively different, but it suits the tone and the feel of the film perfectly. There are many moments when the main focus is the incredible landscape and environment in which the film is set; in many of these instances, the characters fade into the background, as they find themselves at the mercy of their surroundings.

I couldn’t finish this review without a mention of the production design - courtesy of Stephonik Youth - and the costume design by Fernando Rodriguez. Both of these elements also set the tone for the entire piece, grounding the audience in a very particular reality. The sets and locations are stunning - I don’t mean visually stunning necessarily, but stunning in the sense of how much is conveyed with so little - and the costumes powerful and perfect in their simplicity and naturalness.

Bobby (Willem Dafoe).

Nevertheless, it is the performances of the entire cast - without a single exception - that make this film what it is. Every performer brings so much to their own character, and none of them is afraid to go where they need to go as a performer - in the sense of emotional depth.

The two standouts, without a doubt, are Willem Dafoe and Brooklynn Prince. It should come as no surprise that Dafoe is superb - we’ve seen him in plenty of incredible roles before - but the natural acting ability of relative newcomer Prince leaves the rest of the cast behind. This young performer most assuredly has a long and prosperous career ahead of her, and is definitely one to keep an eye on (in fact, she appears in a brand new series on Apple TV+ entitled ‘Home Before Dark’, with all 10 episodes dropping this Friday).

Director Sean Baker has made an absolutely beautiful film here, one that I’m sure I will be watching many more times. This was one of the first films in a long time that I was happy to pay a second admission to see again at the cinema, it was just that good (I even named my cat Moonee, for goodness sake). If you haven’t seen it yet, you really must do so as soon as you can.

10 out of 10.