THE FLORIDA PROJECT is an Unforgettable Film about Childhood without Boundaries by Sean Baker

THE FLORIDA PROJECT is movie about a young girl Moonee (a potent Brooklyn Prince) who lives in a rundown FL motel with her single mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite).  This is Vinaite's debut feature and her performance as a childlike, not so innocent and far from perfect mother is a miraculous achievement.  The film follows Moonee who is left to fend for herself and whose domineering personality makes fearless and the leader of kids her age who are also living with a single parent in transient motels; struggling to pay for room and board.  Moonee is resourceful & fearless when it comes to finding fun.  Her disregard for consequences & disrespect for adults is both astonishing & appalling keeping her under a ubiquitous cloud of danger.  We both admire & ache for Moonee; the  apple didn't fall far from the tree.  Her doting mostly absentee young mother is loving when she's not toking or hooking.  We sympathize for both mother & daughter.  The motel is managed by Bobby (William Dafoe) who also manages to keep a watchful out for Moonee & the other rapscallions.  Alexis Zabe's brilliant cinematography paints a fantasyland with vibrant, technicolor.  We see the world through the steely eyed, rosy glasses of a resilient & tenacious little girl.  When the world Moonee knew & found comfort finally cracks, we're shaken as her bravado gives ways to a torrent of tears.  She and her friend run away to Disneyworld, the world whose shadow they've lived under.  We wish them days filled with rainbows & nights aglow with fireworks.   The movie shares some of the themes and qualities as the film MOONLIGHT; also shot in FL.  Moonee is a child making the best of dire circumstances not of her making.   Our compassion turns towards the mother, a deeply flawed person whose poor choices are excruciating to watch and shame us for failing her and so many others. THE FLORIDA PROJET is a poignant and beautiful looking film that's a facade for the struggles & suffering we've chosen not to see up close.