The Florida Project Review

Sean Baker shot to fame with his debut film Tangerine which focused on a fresh-out-of-jail transgender prostitute in L.A who was trying to get over her cheating boyfriend.

The movie was one of the best examinations of life on the margins of society for many such individuals who are classified as deviant. This would've resulted in it making headlines.

Which it did, albeit for different reasons.

It so happened that the movie was shot entirely on an iPhone.

The hype over that aspect in many ways clouded how good the film was by itself and with his follow up film, The Florida Project, Baker manages to maintain that gritty realistic look at the marginal sections of society albeit without the distracting factor of a unique recording device.

The film is set in one of America's fastest growing living establishments - motels. While they used to be a symbol of American cross country journeys at one point, they've now evolved into the only affordable living establishment for a growing section of America's lower class.

The film follows a mother daughter duo - Halley and six year old Mooney as they live their lives in Magic Castle - an obscure motel in the proximity of Disney World.

Halley as a mother is a complicated figure. She clearly does love her daughter and does want to provide for her. Although her means are certainly limited which in turn has dulled her priorities. Caught up in trying to provide the basic necessities for her daughter - which include activities like selling rip-off perfumes to unsuspecting tourists to turning tricks from her motel room - Halley finds it hard to have the strength or desire to discipline her daughter.

Brooklynn Prince is stunning in her portrayal of Mooney as quite possibly the worst child known to cinema second to Rosemary's Baby. There are moments of petty behaviour like spitting that are intertwined with acts that can only be described as full fledged arson.

What we have then is a duo that is comprised of a mother that is certainly in love with her child but is ill equipped financially and mentally for her. This in turn reflects on the daughter that acts out in a sense of trying to gain attention arising out of a lack of boundaries. It's a seething commentary on parenthood and economic status.

Willem Dafoe is brilliant in his role of Bobby - the manager of the motel who in ways embodies the emotions of the audience as the film goes on wherein his equation with the mother-daughter duo is naturally strained due to their antics and their inability to pay up, but also filled with sympathy and a nugget of actual concern for their well-being buried deep within. Bobby wants them to be okay but he's bound by his own duties to the motel and can only work within a specified limit.

As mentioned, this film is one of the most realistic films made about modern suburban American lower class society - a growing section of marginalized people today.

All this makes the ending of the movie - a dream sequence seen through Mooney's eyes all the more heartbreaking because of how jarring the difference between dreams and reality truly is for these people. Magic Castle can never be Magic Kingdom no matter how hard you try.

Disney magic is available to only a select few.

4/5