The Florida Project

The Florida Project is an astounding film that captures the life of little Moonee as she runs around her motel home with her other little friends. The story goes through a summer for the young girl and captures her experiences of having fun. There is also a spotlight on the struggles for her mother, Halley, as she tries to navigate raising her child in low-income circumstances. Halley, although having never-ending love for her child, is a wild one who doesn’t really have a fantastic character or ethics.

Bobby, the manager of The Magic Castle, which is the motel home of the family, is a hard-working man who has an abundance of patience for his residents and especially Moonee. Willem Dafoe gives a performance as Bobby that is comprehensively impeccable and truly impactful. This, by far, is the best performance that I have ever seen from the actor. He truly communicates the patience, compassion, stress, and resilience that Bobby deals with every day in the story.

I am completely thankful for this film in how it examined the lives of people who struggle to make it and do not have the most resources. The centering attention on people who work the low-wage jobs and live in circumstances like these is completely essential to cinema. I say this because it represents real life for so many Americans. Moonee is just a young girl who has a lot of rambunctious energy and she also has to understand her mother’s struggles with life.

Her character lights up the story and is ubiquitous throughout the entire film. She’s out there sharing sloppy ice cream with her friends, climbing up hills, and going into abandoned areas. Her character reminds us all of the children who we once were. Brooklynn Prince gives Moonee an astonishing soul that is enviable in her performance.

There is a scene when Halley takes Moonee through the back way to a buffet at a good hotel and they both have a blast. I sat there thinking about the different social reality that Halley has in comparison to the other families who were actually staying in the hotel. The differentiation between Halley’s constrained financial life and the family vacations of these other individuals was profound. That is something that this film did very well in its illumination of the way people live just on the outside of Disney World. This is an all-around wonderful movie that is sure going to entertain and stimulate some thought.
(Review by Wyatt Head)