The Florida Project (Review)

“Before the dark times... before the Empire”. While this quote may be from the original Star Wars film - replacing the world ‘empire’ with ‘adulthood’ is what The Florida Project is all about. Even when your childhood isn’t the most privileged -- it’s still a time to be cherished. Moonee, our main character, sure does know how to have a great time as a kid. Her time is occupied with exploration, even if it’s largely confined to the neighbouring lots of the motel she and her mother call home, and conning people into giving her and her friends money to buy ice cream (to help their asthma, obviously).

Moonee is not without her fair share of disobedience, which often falls on motel manager Bobby. Meanwhile, her mother struggles to make the rent every week, put food on the table, and raise Moonee properly. This conflict is the closest this film gets to an overarching narrative, but it helps to hold the film together and prevents it from becoming simply a series of mishaps revolving around the antics of children.

Like Sean Baker’s previous film (Tangerine), The Florida Project features a relatively unknown cast, with the exception of the iconic Willem Dafoe. This brings a sense of realism to the darker aspects of the film – and the portrayal of destitution and motel life are startlingly believable coming from the new faces on screen. Dafoe never overpowers his supporting actors and brings a grace to his character that only a person who has many years of acting behind them could. He’s never a tyrant ruling the motel, and it obvious he only wants what’s best for the occupants – which makes his performance all the more poignant and memorable.

Just because we see people struggling, doesn’t mean Baker rests on his laurels to create empathy for our main characters. Baker gives us real insight into the lives of these people. He puts emphasis on the small moments – the ones you eventually look back on as making you really you. At one point, we see a group fighting, but it’s looked over in favour of the more mundane things taking place around it. It’s these seemingly banal moments, which feel like memories, that the film decides to observe.

The result is a film that, in some ways, lacks a strong narrative arch -- but does not lack meaning. The Florida Project will never lose your interest, the exploits of Moonee remind us of our own childhoods -- and proves how timeless childhood really is, regardless of circumstance. The more mature subjects are seen from a distance or approached with ambiguity. When the going gets rough this film will make you yearn to return to a simpler time… a time before responsibility.

Florida is a place known for its hot weather, and while it certainly does play into the plot of the film, it’s especially present in Alexis Zabe’s cinematography. Zabe’s 35mm cinematography takes Florida’s weather into consideration when shooting outdoor sequences, and what comes out is a colourful film that will make you question what might really be going on in those motels that generally wouldn’t warrant a second glance.

While the film does succeed technically, it left me cold emotionally with a style shift towards the end of the film that felt tacked on. The film shifts to some iPhone footage in the middle of the most cathartic moment in the film and it didn't leave a good impression on me, unfortunately.

Overall Score: 7/10

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The Florida Project is in limited release now.

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Director: Sean Baker Writer: Sean Baker & Chris Bergoch

Starring: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite and Caleb Landry Jones

Music: Lorne Balfe

Cinematography: Alexis Zabe

Editing: Sean Baker