Like most movies that strike a chord deep within me, The Florida Project is not flashy or cinematic, but it features characters and scenarios that pack a wallop of emotion that leaves you reeling long after the movie is done. Directed and co-written by Sean Baker, this movie lets its characters do the talking while the camera lingers lovingly on their faces so we can see the world through their eyes. And what heartbreaking eyes they are.
Set in a Florida motel on the outskirts of Walt Disney World, the movie is the story of six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a young girl who spends her mostly unsupervised summer days hanging out with fellow motel-dwelling children and running wild in the neighborhood. At first, I loved seeing these kids running around outside, making up silly games to play, and randomly adding members to their crew. There's a wild freedom about being a kid during the summer, and this movie celebrates the innocence and joy that can only come when you're a kid who has friends to play with, wide open spaces to have adventures in, and no rules or restrictions to abide by. Unfortunately, those first few moments of innocent enjoyment are rapidly crushed by the realization that Moonee and her friends might have such free reign of their world because they don't have access to the best parental supervision. And perhaps a seedy motel is not the best place for young children to be growing up.
Moonee's mom, Halley (Bria Vinaite), is the type of woman who most would instantly categorize as white trash. Foul-mouthed, with a shock of dyed hair and covered in tattoos, she nonetheless loves her child and gives her the best life she possibly can, under the circumstances. Via her friendships with motel residents, she scrounges up free food for her daughter and her friends, and by engaging in various money-making schemes, she manages to pay up their monthly rent to the motel manager, Bobby (Willem Dafoe). However, this is a movie about how the poor are always living on a razor's edge, and the whole time you are watching Moonee and her friends artlessly enjoy themselves, your gut is clenched in fear because this girl's life cannot possibly continue in this happy limbo for much longer.
Things slowly start to fall apart as they are wont to do. And as each little piece of the support structure Halley has built around her and her daughter starts to crumble, their world crashes down spectacularly. It is devastating to watch Halley still trying to cobble together little treats for her daughter and her friends, even as her life spirals irrevocably out of control. One of the most moving scenes of the film is when they go to an abandoned lot near Disney World and celebrate a birthday by eating a cupcake and watching the nightly fireworks light up the sky, pretending those fireworks are especially for them. In her own way, Halley is using her imagination the same way that her daughter does - she is trying to make an adventure out of her dismal circumstances, but the trouble is, as an adult, she knows it's all a fantasy, while Moonee still thinks it's all great fun.
Towards the end, there is a scene at a hotel breakfast buffet where the camera just focuses on Moonee as she stuffs her face with fruit and bacon and makes hilarious observations. I imagine that scene was improvised but it is one of the most powerful moments I've seen on screen all year - on the one hand, you have this girl who is enjoying this delicious breakfast with no thought as to how it has been acquired, and on the other hand, her mother, who has a half-smile as she watches her happy child prattle on, but whose eyes indicate that their bubble is about to burst.
I loved this movie so much. It brings you into its world and puts you firmly in the headspace of its characters, so you can feel their every joy and their every sorrow without judgement, only empathy. Willem Dafoe's character is particularly excellent, a man who tries to do his job but also reluctantly becomes a father figure to the families in his motel and looks out for them the best way that he can. He cannot stop Halley from her perilous slide, and he cannot protect Moonee 24/7, but it is gut-wrenching to watch him try. And the final scenes of the film are a perfect encapsulation of where Moonee will go from here. She will cling on to her fantasies for a little while longer, but the death of her childhood innocence is imminent.
It is common in our political climate to deride the poor and declare that they simply aren't trying hard enough. The power of a movie like The Florida Project comes from its ability to humanize the people that are casually lumped together as the "poor" and illustrate the pains they take to care for their loved ones and scrape together a day-to-day existence. Halley is an extreme example, but many of Moonee's friends' parents are poor but getting by; Halley merely fell through the cracks. This movie does a wonderful job of juxtaposing the rich and comfortable world of Disney and the poor and bleak world of the motel residents dwelling along its periphery. And yet somehow, for two hours, The Florida Project manages to make its world more magical than the Magic Kingdom.
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