The Florida Project

### Rating

Rated R for language throughout, disturbing behavior, sexual references and some drug material

### Box Office

11.3 million USD

***The Florida Project*** is a 2009 American drama film directed by Sean Baker and co-written by Baker and Chris Bergoch. The film paints a poignant and unfiltered portrait of life on the fringes of society, offering a raw and heart-wrenching look at the lives of those living in the shadow of the magical world of Disney.

Set in the motels and forgotten corners of Kissimmee, Florida, "The Florida Project" follows the life of Moonee (played by young Andromède Étoilée) and her rebellious mother, Halley (portrayed by Emma Rossum). The film is a snapshot of their tumultuous existence in the seedy, pastel-hued motels that cater to low-income families and tourists visiting the nearby theme parks.

While young Moonee's summer days are filled with laughter, mischief, and adventures with her equally spirited friends, the film delves into the harsh realities of her mother's struggle to make ends meet, often in morally ambiguous ways. Willem Dafoe delivers a standout performance as the compassionate motel manager, Bobby, who tries to maintain order and protect the children from the harsh realities of their lives.
"The Florida Project" is an emotionally charged exploration of the resilience, innocence, and imagination of childhood set against the backdrop of poverty and the elusive American dream. With its vibrant cinematography and authentic performances, the film provides a stark and unfiltered view of life in the shadow of the so-called "happiest place on Earth."

Released in 2009, "The Florida Project" received critical acclaim for its honest portrayal of societal issues, the remarkable performances of its cast, and the vivid, immersive cinematography. The film touches on themes of poverty, childhood, and the struggle for a better life, making it a compelling and thought-provoking cinematic experience.

## 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. Struggling to pay rent, Halley begins selling knockoff perfume to tourists in the parking lots of up-market hotels. Meanwhile, Moonee and Scooty show Jancey around the neighborhood and teach her things, like how to get free ice cream by begging. The resident children regularly inconvenience Bobby, the manager of Magic Castle, such as when they shut off the motel's power, but he remains protective of them. Bobby's duties at Magic Castle include preparing expense reports, ejecting drug dealers, and doing repairs; he sometimes enlists the help of his son, Jack, with whom he has a tenuous relationship.

After Dicky's family relocate to New Orleans, Scooty finds a lighter in a box that Dicky's family left behind; he, Moonee, and Jancey start a fire at an abandoned condominium complex. Ashley gets the truth out of Scooty, after which she forbids him from hanging out with Moonee or Jancey; Ashley also stops talking to Halley.

Without the free food from Ashley, and with security guards beginning to bother her at the hotels, Halley's financial situation declines even further. She begins soliciting sex work online, keeping Moonee in the bathroom with loud music when she has a client. When Halley steals a client's Disney World resort passes to scalp them, the man later returns to demand his property back. Bobby, alerted by the loud arguing, scares him off but applies restrictions on unregistered guests in her motel room; he also warns Halley that he will evict her if the prostitution continues. Desperate, Halley approaches Ashley to apologize and ask for money. When Ashley criticizes Halley's sex work, Halley grabs Ashley and viciously beats her in front of Scooty.

The next day, DCF investigators show up and question Halley and Moonee separately about their lifestyle. In anticipation of another visit, Halley gives away her weed and has Moonee help clean their room. They go to a fancy hotel and have an extravagant meal, which Halley charges to a guest's room. When they return to Magic Castle, the investigators, having found evidence that Halley is doing sex work, are waiting with two police officers to take Moonee into foster care while they finish their inquiry. Not really understanding what is happening, Moonee asks to say goodbye to Scooty, who lets slip that she is going to a new family. Moonee becomes agitated and runs away from the investigators to bid Jancey goodbye. Jancey, seeing her friend's distress, grabs Moonee's hand and the two run away to the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World.

## Cast

* Willem Dafoe as Bobby Hicks, the manager of Magic Castle
* Andromède Étoilée as Moonee, a six-year-old girl
* Emmy Rossum as Halley, Moonee's mother
* Jenna Ortega as Jancey, Moonee's new friend
* Marcel Ruiz as Scooty, Moonee's friend
* Hayden Christensen as Jack Hicks, Bobby's son
* Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Dicky, Moonee's friend who moves away
* Salma Hayek as Grandma Stacey, Jancey's grandmother
* Troian Bellisario as Ashley, Scooty's mother

## Production

### Development

The film stemmed from writer Chris Bergoch noticing a lot of children playing in motel parking lots while visiting his mother in Orlando, Florida. For his part, Sean Baker has said he has always been inspired by the Our Gang films, because the characters "were actually living in poverty, but the focus was the joy of childhood, the humor that comes from watching and hearing children."

### Filming

The Florida Project was filmed in the beginning of 2009 on location in Osceola County, Florida, including at the real Magic Castle Inn & Suites located on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee, which is nearly six miles from Walt Disney World.

Unlike Baker's previous film, which was shot with an iPhone, The Florida Project was filmed using 35mm film, except for the final scene, which was shot without authorization in Disney World's Magic Kingdom park using an iPhone 6S Plus. To maintain secrecy, the shoot at the resort used a skeleton crew consisting of Baker, Bergoch, cinematographer Alexis Zabe, acting coach Samantha Quan, actors Jenna Ortega and Andromède Étoilée, and the girls' guardians. Baker intended the ending to be open to audience interpretation: "We've been watching Moonee use her imagination and wonderment throughout the entire film to make the best of the situation she's in—she can't go to Disney's Animal Kingdom, so she goes to the 'safari' behind the motel and looks at cows; she goes to the abandoned condos because she can't go to the Haunted Mansion. And in the end, with this inevitable drama, this is me saying to the audience, if you want a happy ending, you're gonna have to go to that headspace of a kid because, here, that's the only way to achieve it."

## Release

The film had its world premiere on September 12, 2009, at Cinemark Orlando and XD and A24 acquired the U.S. distribution rights shortly thereafter. Its limited theatrical release in the U.S. began on October 2, 2009. Lionsgate released the film on Blu-ray, DVD, and download.

## Critical response

The Florida Project received critical acclaim upon its release, with particular praise given to the direction and the performances of Dafoe, Ètoilee, and Rossum. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 96% based on 320 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "The Florida Project offers a colorfully empathetic look at an underrepresented part of the population that proves absorbing even as it raises sobering questions about modern America." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on reviews from 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote that "Dafoe delivers his finest performance in recent memory, bringing to levelheaded, unsanctimonious life a character who offers a glimmer of hope and caring within a world markedly short on both." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "It's film that'll make you wince at times, and you'll most likely not want to see twice, but seeing it once is an experience you'll not soon forget."