Let's be honest, we all did dodgy things as kids.
Florida is most often associated with its numerous theme parks and plush retirement homes, but as any native knows, the true essence of Orlando lies behind the curtain.
This slice-of-life narrative by Sean Baker actually takes place in the lesser-known subdivision of Kissimmee at a freakishly but canonically purple budget motel called the Magic Castle.
If you’ve ever travelled through the sunshine state, you’ve seen a motel just like this one. They line I-75 in all of their vibrant colors, attracting campers, tourists, and clandestine lovers alike.
The Florida Project takes its name from the original Walt Disney World blueprint, yet the narrative tells the story of life on the outskirts. The critically acclaimed film follows 23-year-old Halley’s free-range parenting and its influence on the mischief and mayhem of her 6-year-old daughter, Moonee.
The first-time lead actress Bria Vinaite wasn't scouted through an agency, but through Instagram promoting her cannabis inspired clothing line. Baker relates his struggle to find someone in Hollywood with Vinaite’s unique look and eventually asked her to audition for the role.
Vinaite also had the opportunity to feature in Drake's "Nice for What" music video alongside Olivia Wilde, Emma Roberts, and Tiffany Haddish.
This isn't the first time A24 has scouted a lead off the street. This was the case a year before with Sasha Lane in American Honey (2016).
Brooklyn Prince is a fantastic little actress, winning the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. Since TFP, she’s gone on to star in horror films The Turning, Home Before Dark, and Settlers.
There are established names in the film: In an Oscar nominated and awarded performance, Willem Dafoe plays a motel manger named Bobby, who expertly confronts a pedophile and moves Halley and Mooney in and out at the end of each month to avoid establishing residency. For what it's worth, he's Daddy material.
When it comes to aesthetics, A24 gets it right as always. From the plush couches and shitty wall decals to the overrepresentation of jorts, nothing stuck out as out of place for the setting. All that’s missing is an isolated thunderstorm.
Halley and Moonee are best bitches, and neither are by any means well-behaved. From twerking, belching, flipping off helicopters, and scamming tourists with phoney magic bands, Halley is her daughter’s biggest enabler. For a while, it seems they're untouchable and that the consequences of their behavior are as imaginary as the commercial sphere that surrounds them.
Moonee never meets a stranger and has an established relationship with Scooty, who Halley babysits in exchange for food from his mother, Ashley. Rather than riding space coasters in Tomorrowland, they cross the highway to the opposing motel Futureland and spit on cars from it's balcony. There they meet Jancey, and the trifecta is completed.
The unsupervised trio spends their summer vacation panhandling for ice cream money. In lieu of the Animal Kingdom safaris, the children wander cow pastures. Unaware of the throes of poverty around her, Moonee enjoys the simplicities of life such as dollar store mermaids at bathtime.
The movie is largely scripted, but Baker's willingness to let the child actors' imaginations run wild made for organic and hyper-real subject matter that's hard to replicate. The scene where Halley and Moonee sell perfume bottles was improvised on unsuspecting tourists, Impractical Jokers style.
Given that we're provided no background on the characters, there's no canonical explanation for Halley's decision-making process or what led her to become a single mother with no familial support. The characters don't arc, they devolve throughout the 110-minute runtime. Jancey becomes desensitized to the delinquency of her peers and begins to take part. Halley becomes increasingly disorganized. When Halley loses her job dancing at a club, she becomes violently ill from stress and vomits in front of Moonee.
Their impromptu adventures draw to a halt when the kids trespass and set fire to the “abandids”, an abandoned complex in the marsh. Ashley recognizes her son’s guilt and forbids Scooty from playing with the other children. She also stops giving Halley and Moonee free breakfast from the diner where she works, the absence of which subsequently leading to further financial trouble for Halley.
Now struggling to pay rent and not making enough from her perfume grift, Halley is forced to sell Moonee's iPad and begins to solicit sex work out of the motel room, leaving Moonee in the bathroom with loud music playing. Bobby begins to notice, and warns Halley about the repercussions. Not only do the hook-ups continue, Halley apologizes to Ashley and asks her for money. When Ashley instead threatens her, Halley attacks her in front of Scooty, prompting a visit from DCF.
