“Look at you and your daughter. No wonder you’re in this situation”
The Florida Project documents one summer at a cluster of budget motels in Orlando, FL. At the center of the film is Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a young girl who is wild at heart and lackadaisically looked after by her young single mother Halley (Bria Vinaite), as well as Moonee’s two young neighborhood friends Scooty (Christopher Rivera) and Jancey (Valeria Cotto). Through these characters, we are made witness to life on the margins of American society.
The Florida Project is a fascinating and visceral portrayal of the the impoverished in America; the poor and their day to day struggles to hustle and survive, but shown mostly through the eyes of a child. We do see adults trying to achieve some stability through the chaos, with Halley trying various hustles, mostly just bordering on being legal, to scrap and try to make a way for her and her child. But the portrayal of young children coping with the obstacles of poverty by using her childlike imagination to create wonder where there is none is the main focus and where the film is at its strongest. The film’s locale is also a statement on our country’s current struggle with inequality. The motel strip where our characters live is in the shadow of one of the world’s “most magical” places, Disney World. Living in squalor in such close proximity to a place known for wonder and amazement, and the prices to match, is a metaphor for how the poor in America suffer and limp along right under the noses of those that live by better means. They remain acutely aware of their place, or lack thereof, in our country as they watch those with more enjoy what they have, just out of reach, while those that have barely acknowledge their existence, if at all.
Through the kids, we are able to see how this environment and these circumstances force them to grow up fast, be knowledgeable of things they probably should not be at their ages, but also how they also still retain their childlike innocence. Moonee and Jancey visit a cow pasture near their motel complex as a stand-in for a safari adventure. Moonee, Jancey, and Scooty visit abandoned buildings to create the illusion of being in a haunted house. Also present in the story is how the irresponsibility and dysfunction the children so often come into contact with leads to them making dangerous mistakes. While exploring an abandoned house, Moonee gets the idea to have Scooty use his stolen lighter to ignite a pillow in the home’s fireplace before they leave. The arson leads to a chain of unfortunate, life changing events, thrusting the kids into situations they should never be faced with. The kids’ involvement in the arson scares Scooty’s mother Ashley (Mela Murder) into dissolved the friendship between the two as well as her own friendship with Halley. This leads to Halley replacing the support she and Ashley had been giving one another with internet prostitution to bring in money, where Moonee accidentally encounters a John and culminates in Scooty witnessing Halley beating up Ashley after an argument. These incidents within the film are illustrations of real life predicaments that children who live in poverty are forced to deal with and process before an age where they’re prepared to all too often within our society.
Brooklynn Prince is transcendent as the lead, showing remarkable presence for someone her age. She is cute, precocious, and 100% believable in the role. Her performance is definitely one of the year’s best, shining particularly brightly during the heartbreaking ending that’s sure to hit viewers hard. Bria Vinaite was equally impressive in her acting debut, aptly portraying an irresponsible, lax mother who at her core, still did want well for her child. Willem Defoe plays a supporting role as motel manager Bobby, a working class man trying to keep the motel running as smoothly as possible but still looking out for Halley and Moonee as best he can. Defoe’s performance is understated and subtle, as is Bobby’s style and personality, but his caring heart is displayed through his actions and decisions and come across well on screen.
The Florida Project cements its director Sean Baker as an auteur with his own unique style and voice. The film includes elements that are now likely to serve as his trademark; lush, vibrant color and a guerrilla, uber-realistic portrayal of American life that is rarely depicted on screen. The film’s extras were actual residents of the motel that added to the authenticity of what was being depicted. Although he did not shoot the entire film on an iPhone as he did with 2015’s Tangerine, Baker’s signature usage of the device as a camera is utilized during the film’s controversial ending.
That ending has been a point of controversy with many disliking it, even me when it first began. Faced with being removed from her mother’s care by the Florida Department of Children and Family, Moonee flees from the social workers and police to Jancey’s place where she tearfully tries to have a final goodbye. Confused and unsure of how to comfort her friend, Jancey grabs Mooney’s hand and the two race to Disney’s Magic Kingdom in a frenetic, accelerated shot. After giving it some thought, I came to see it as Jay and Moonee mentally retreating to a fantasy world as children would do in the face of confusion and pain that they were unequipped to deal with. This was confirmed by Baker, with him saying the ending was his way of telling the audience “If you want a happy ending, you’re gonna have to go to that headspace of a kid because, here, that’s the only way to achieve it.” The ending continues with the realism presented in The Florida Project, there are no happy endings except for those that are imagined and under our current social order, those that inhabit these environments are doomed to their fate; they just have to make the best of it. This may be a tough pill to swallow for many, but it is reality.
The Florida Project is a glimpse into a world that people are often too afraid to examine and too ashamed to acknowledge. Director Sean Baker takes his commitment to realistic, in the trenches film-making and uses it to create a voyeuristic, authentic take on what life is like on the outside for those that are born in the planet’s richest country but not fortunate enough to have a slice of the opulent pie. The fresh look at oft-ignored subject matter is enhanced by a fresh, excellent cast that work to make what is a depiction of everyday American life something compelling and worth seeing every second of. The Florida Project is a great, welcome piece of film-making.
Image: A24
