After hearing a lot of buzz and seeing that it was in a theatre near me, I decided I needed to give The Florida Project a shot. Like most movies produced by A24 I had little to no idea what this movie was about due to its vague marketing. I think that not knowing a lot going into a movie can be very beneficial though and I really enjoyed going into this one blind.
This movie follows some six year old kids on their summer vacation. While that sounds like a very happy and whimsical story, it acts as a veil to the truly hard times these kids' parents are going through. We see most of the movie through the eyes of a young girl named Moonee and her mother Halley, who live in a motel run by Bobby, played by the great Willem Dafoe.
Moonee is played by a little girl named Brooklyn Prince and she is fantastic. She gives the film a sense of realism that makes you feel like a kid again, whether its from the things she talks about or the silly things she does. Bria Vinaite plays Moonee's mom Halley, and while I think her performance is fantastic, her character is very frustrating. She does a lot of yelling and isn't really suited well to care for a kid, but that didn't really take away from the movie for me because Vinaite did a great job and the character fit the movie. She also has an incredible bond with her daughter that just adds to the realistic feel of the movie. This movie is filled with great performances, but no one comes near topping Willem Dafoe. If Dafoe doesn't earn a best supporting actor nomination I'm going to lose my shit because his performance feels so true and genuine that he steals every scene he is in. The connection he has with the adults and especially the kids is a joy to watch throughout. There is one scene in particular where a bunch of the kids are playing and a strange man is near them, and Dafoe comes out and deals with the man, and that scene is one of my favourites of quite possibly the whole year.
The script of this movie is fantastic, and the writer/director Sean Baker brings it to life beautifully. Very few movies are able to portray the magic of childhood in the way this movie does and it is both refreshing to see and incredibly enjoyable to watch. With the hardships Halley faces in the film, the way children are portrayed stop the movie from being dull and depressing and instead make it fun despite its tough subject matter. It also features a style of film making that feels less cinematic and more like the audience is being dropped into real life. Instead of watching a story unfold, we see a series of events unfold. The characters are not given any backstory or much development but due to how real everything feels in the film you still get deeply invested in the characters. The real feel given by the performances is accentuated by a lot of long takes and camera movement, really giving the audience a more immersive experience than they would get in a film with lots of quick cuts. This is also a very pretty movie. The creative team did a great job of bringing to life the beauty of Florida and it just added another layer of excellence to the film.
If we were talking about the majority of the movie I'd say this is at least a 4.5/5, but Baker ends the film in a strange way with a minute or two at the very end shot differently from the rest of the film. There is a portion that is sped up weirdly and then a very quickly cut scene that doesn't fit the film at all, and it leads to a very abrupt and inconclusive ending. In almost any other movie it wouldn't bother me but this scene completely ignores the realistic style that was used to perfection throughout the rest of the movie so it just feels strange and out of place.
Ending aside, this movie is one of the most genuine of the year, and I really hope it earns awards nominations at least for Willem Dafoe and the screenplay, if not more. This movie is very very good and if it's showing near you I'd highly suggest you check it out.
Rating: 4.25/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
This movie follows some six year old kids on their summer vacation. While that sounds like a very happy and whimsical story, it acts as a veil to the truly hard times these kids' parents are going through. We see most of the movie through the eyes of a young girl named Moonee and her mother Halley, who live in a motel run by Bobby, played by the great Willem Dafoe.
Moonee is played by a little girl named Brooklyn Prince and she is fantastic. She gives the film a sense of realism that makes you feel like a kid again, whether its from the things she talks about or the silly things she does. Bria Vinaite plays Moonee's mom Halley, and while I think her performance is fantastic, her character is very frustrating. She does a lot of yelling and isn't really suited well to care for a kid, but that didn't really take away from the movie for me because Vinaite did a great job and the character fit the movie. She also has an incredible bond with her daughter that just adds to the realistic feel of the movie. This movie is filled with great performances, but no one comes near topping Willem Dafoe. If Dafoe doesn't earn a best supporting actor nomination I'm going to lose my shit because his performance feels so true and genuine that he steals every scene he is in. The connection he has with the adults and especially the kids is a joy to watch throughout. There is one scene in particular where a bunch of the kids are playing and a strange man is near them, and Dafoe comes out and deals with the man, and that scene is one of my favourites of quite possibly the whole year.
The script of this movie is fantastic, and the writer/director Sean Baker brings it to life beautifully. Very few movies are able to portray the magic of childhood in the way this movie does and it is both refreshing to see and incredibly enjoyable to watch. With the hardships Halley faces in the film, the way children are portrayed stop the movie from being dull and depressing and instead make it fun despite its tough subject matter. It also features a style of film making that feels less cinematic and more like the audience is being dropped into real life. Instead of watching a story unfold, we see a series of events unfold. The characters are not given any backstory or much development but due to how real everything feels in the film you still get deeply invested in the characters. The real feel given by the performances is accentuated by a lot of long takes and camera movement, really giving the audience a more immersive experience than they would get in a film with lots of quick cuts. This is also a very pretty movie. The creative team did a great job of bringing to life the beauty of Florida and it just added another layer of excellence to the film.
If we were talking about the majority of the movie I'd say this is at least a 4.5/5, but Baker ends the film in a strange way with a minute or two at the very end shot differently from the rest of the film. There is a portion that is sped up weirdly and then a very quickly cut scene that doesn't fit the film at all, and it leads to a very abrupt and inconclusive ending. In almost any other movie it wouldn't bother me but this scene completely ignores the realistic style that was used to perfection throughout the rest of the movie so it just feels strange and out of place.
Ending aside, this movie is one of the most genuine of the year, and I really hope it earns awards nominations at least for Willem Dafoe and the screenplay, if not more. This movie is very very good and if it's showing near you I'd highly suggest you check it out.
Rating: 4.25/5
Written by Matt McKenzie
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