The Florida Project is a low budget indie film from 2017 that I just caught up with on iTunes rental and it’s really worth seeing. The movie is most known for its very young, novice actors and Willem Dafoe who is up for an academy award for his supporting part.
Set in a tourist motel with $38 / night rooms just outside Disney World in Orlando, it follows the families who live there on a week-to-week basis. They aren’t one month away from homelessness, they ARE homeless and are one week away from living on the streets. In this bright purple, run-down place live a gang of children (mostly around six or seven years old) who terrorize the place, running rampant and without supervision. They are kind of terrible kids and their parents aren’t great either. But the kids don’t know that… they don’t understand their circumstances and the film is largely told without judgement from their points of view.
This is a remarkable movie about not much of anything. It’s real slice-of-life stuff, just following the kids as they fill their days with play, or something like it. You quickly realize the mother of the main girl is too young herself, too poor, under-educated, and too proud to get out of her situation. You think the kids are terrible and the parents are worse… but the film makers aren’t judging and, while all this is true, they are still good people doing their best. For all her faults, the mom (and actress in her first role) is fiercely protective of her daughter and is doing the best she can in her limited circumstances. But she also lives in fear of one more arrest or the appearance of child services.
Willem Dafoe does an amazing job as the motel manager. He is frustrated by the kids running around, protective but firm with the parents. His life would be better without this army of six year old terrorizing the place… but he’s fiercely protective of them. It’s a great performance – you can see the conflict, the annoyance, and the care in his eyes.
The kid actors are all somehow really good. A lot of the film feels like they are just improvising… or playing… while the camera is filming. It lends the movie a definite air of reality. But when the script does clearly kick in, the lead little girl (played by newcomer Brooklynn Prince) is great. The other kids are too… not sure how they got such good naturalistic performances from six year olds.
I can’t say this movie is for everyone. Not a lot happens for two hours but I was always fascinating and enthralled by it. The movie makes few value judgments – good or bad – for these poor unfortunate souls living within spitting distance of the Magic Kingdom. I like that – it doesn’t treat them as victims or saviors… just people. I recommend this film a lot… though admittedly it might not be for everyone.
Score: 90