Film Review: The Florida Project
An unexpectedly warm and deeply human narrative found on the periphery of the Disney experience.
Director: Sean Baker, 2017
Bobby: It's only the second week of summer and there's already been a dead fish in the pool.
Moonee: We were performing a science experiment. We were trying to get it back alive.
The subscription to MUBI is worth the price of entry to watch films like The Substance, which I reviewed last month. The Florida Projectgives us glimpse into the lives of residents living in a budget hotel called the Magic Castle; seen through the perspective of Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a boisterous six year old and her friends. Moonee’s mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) is a stripper struggling to make ends meet, coming into regular conflict with Bobby Hicks (Willem Dafoe), the perpetually exasperated building manager of the Magic Castle. With a dwindling cashflow, Halley turns to increasingly desperate measures to pay the rent, culminating in a fraught standoff between Moonee and the Florida Department of Children and Families.
Despite all of the calamity and hopelessness in the shadow of Walt Disney World, there’s a strong thread of affection and humanity running throughout, which makes for compelling viewing.
This review originally appeared in Dispatch Edition #2.
The Dispatch is a monthly roundup by British speculative fiction writer, Jordan Acosta. News, short reviews and more, published every first Thursday. You can subscribe at jordanacosta.co, and read previous editions, here.
