The Florida Project

The Florida Project is a 2017 American drama film directed by Sean Baker and written by Baker and Chris Bergoch. It stars Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, and Caleb Landry Jones, and was the first film appearance for many of the cast members. The slice of life plot focuses on the summertime adventures of a six-year-old girl who lives with her unemployed single mother in a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida. Their struggle to make ends meet and stave off homelessness takes place in a surreal environment dominated by the nearby Walt Disney World, which was code named "The Florida Project" during its early planning stages. It juxtaposes this with the local residents' less glamorous day-to-day lives, and also the children's joyful adventures as they explore and make the most of their surroundings, while remaining blissfully innocent of the true hardships which their adult carers face. The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States by A24 on October 6, 2017. It was acclaimed by critics, who lauded Baker's direction and the performances, particularly those of Dafoe, Prince, and Vinaite. For their work in the film, Dafoe earned Best Supporting Actor nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA Awards, and Prince won the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute chose the film as one of the top ten films of the year. Plot Six-year-old Moonee lives with her young single mother Halley at Magic Castle Inn & Suites, a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida, near Walt Disney World. She spends most of her summer days unsupervised and making mischief with her downstairs neighbor Scooty, who Halley is supposed to watch while his mother Ashley works at a diner, and Dicky, who lives at the nearby Futureland Inn. After Stacy, a new resident at Futureland, catches the trio spitting on her car, Dicky is grounded for a week, and Moonee and Scooty meet and befriend Stacy's granddaughter Jancey, who lives with Stacy. Halley has recently lost her job as an exotic dancer after not wishing to do 'extras' (i.e. sexual acts) for clients, but this now affects her eligibility for TANF benefits; she begins relying on food that Ashley gets from work.