Rating: 9.5/10
Genre: Drama/Documentary
Related Films: Tangerine, Bicycle Thieves, Modern Times
By Rebecca Mannick
The Florida Project is a heartwarming and heartbreaking journey through the realities of poverty in America. It takes you through the summer holidays of a six-year old living in a budget motel with her single unemployed mother. Following their day to day life it shows you the measures they have to go to, to keep their heads above the water. With no real storyline you predominately follow Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and her friends on their adventures. Living up to a stereotype they find fun in things like spitting on cars and burning down abandoned buildings. However you can forgive Moonee quickly with her cheeky and adorable personality. You also see into the mom Halley’s (Bria Vinaite) life. She struggles every week to pay rent for their motel room, without this space they would have nothing. Halley’s way of finding money are questionable but she would do anything to support her child making sure she has a bed and food. They only have one friend in Bobby (Willem Defoe) the hotel manager, who acts as a sort of father figure to the girls.
I honestly loved this movie so much, it completely moved me in a way that made me sympathise with the people who could be in this situation. The script is so well written and witty - there are some moments which are so subtly hilarious. You can’t help but to love all the characters, I especially liked Halley’s character. At first she seems like a terrible mother, only worried about smoking weed and hanging out with her friends. But ultimately she would do anything for Moonee and tries her best to care for her. The bond between mother and daughter is undeniable. Theres a scene where Bobby tells Halley she’s a bad mom, Halley turns to Moonee and says “I've failed as a mother Moonee”. In which she replies, “yeah mom, you’re a disgrace”. Both laughing and making light of the situation.
The Florida Project hit me hard as I can’t help to feel slightly connected as this movie takes place in Kissimmee. A stones throw from Disney World. A place of joy, happiness and vacation. I’ve stayed in Kissimmee three times now, and I have definitely driven past some of the locations and even the motel in which the whole movie was based around. This poverty goes so under the radar, you would have no idea people are living like this. Some of these people probably even work at the Disney parks or at least the surrounding restaurants and shops. There’s a part in the film where they hitch a ride down the road and sit down just so they can watch the fireworks from Disney World. It didn’t matter that they weren’t actually in the park, they were having the time of their lives just being together and present. It actually brought me to tears it was so raw and heartwarming.
Brooklynn Prince is a star in the making. You could feel every emotion she was projecting and you believed in every moment that she was living and breathing Moonee. I would also love to specially mention Bria Vinaite who in fact is not a professional actress, or done any acting job ever but got cast through Instagram. Sean Baker the writer and director, based Halley’s character off of Bria and apparently some A-lister Hollywood actors auditioned for the role but couldn’t capture Halley in the way he wanted. So decided to contact Bria through Instagram direct message to get her to audition and the rest is history. I can only assume that this will be Bria’s breakthrough role and hopefully will be able to pursue a career in acting.
We got to see this through Odeon’s screen unseen, and couldn’t have been more happy with the choice in film. The Florida Project is a small independent film and has just announced it will be releasing in the UK on November 10th. If you feel like this is something you would enjoy please go and check it out in theatres. I would love to see this film do well, as it deserves it.
Rating : 9.5/10
By Leanne Harragan
The Florida Project follows six-year-old Moonee and her mother Halley. Moonee lives the most exciting of lives, everyday she is off living in a fantasy world with her rag-tag group of friends; all the while unaware of the difficulties that her mother faces trying to support Moonee and herself.
This was the fourth screen unseen of the year for me and while showings this year have been somewhat average, this was something else altogether. Excitement was in the air as the everyone waited with baited breath for this months reveal; when the title finally showed there were murmurs all around as people questioned what on earth ‘The Florida Project’ was. Normally I have at least heard of the film being screened but this time I went into completely blind with no idea what was ahead.
This film is unlike anything I’ve seen before and is almost not like watching a film at all but is much more like a documentary. The film focuses on unseen poverty, set on the doorstep of Florida’s magical Walt Disney World. While this film is not based on a real story or real characters, you can’t help but believe that this is a reality for so many people across the world. While there is no real plot to this film it is a poignant piece of work that had me laughing out loud, feeling the pain of friendships falling apart and by the end crying.
Set through the eyes of six-year-old Moonee who is living each day of her summer holiday as a new adventure; whether dancing on picnic benches with her friends, begging for money so her and her friends can share an ice-cream or sneaking off to abandoned apartment blocks; each day is a new fantastic new journey for her. Yet unbeknownst to her, her mother Halley is struggling to support this fantasy life, living week by week in a motel she shares every up and down with her daughter but always works to give Moonee what she wants. The ending, when Moonee’s fantasy world comes crashing down around her, is maybe the most moving scene I’ve seen this year.
A film being carried by children is a tough thing to do, but at only seven years old Brooklynn Prince (Moonee) was absolutely incredible, confident and funny, she was more than able to fill this role and kept the audience on her toes with her quick-witted delivery of lines and her heartbreaking performance when she breaks down to her friend Jancey. Another breakout performance in this film was Bria Vinaite (Halley) who was picked from Instagram specifically for this role. Her relationship with Moonee was great; she did everything in her power to give her the best life she could, despite her own difficulties. The casting of two unknown actors to this film added to the realism of this film.
Another important part of this film was Willem Dafoe playing tough but caring manager of the motel they live in. Despite his tough exterior, his caring nature was so important in showing that people in the world care. Whether he was watching out for the children when strangers appeared on the premises, spotting the rent when Halley was short so they’d have a place to stay or just protecting Moonee from seeing things that she was too young to see, he was always on hand to watch out for those around him despite facing problems of his own.
I could go on and on about this film but I will end here and give mention to the wonderful use of the pastel colours from the all purple motel to the bright orange of the ice cream stall nearby, making this a visually stunning film to watch.
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