The Florida Project

Sean Baker's The Florida Project is a hyper realistic depiction of how an everyday life in a suburban flat apartment would look like. We are fed information, proceedings plus plot through the eyes of a six-year old girl and her friends whom she slowly loses over the course of the story.

These naughty and uncontrollable troublemakers are out on the street every day during the summer break, constantly stirring problem after problem for the people and properties around. They spit on cars, turn off electricity; basically whenever they're around, you know shit's about to hit the fan. Willem Dafoe plays Bobby; the manager of this premise and oh boy is he fantastic as he always is! We see the livelihood of Bobby dealing with tenants (and flamingos) solving any rising issues. So naturally, there'll be confrontations between the kids and this man. Scenes such as him requesting a resident to cover her body, accidental paint bucket drop and chasing a stranger away from the vicinity are hilarious! This is one of those special films in which not much of a plot's involved, but engaging events and characters keep you wandering about this neighborhood, at least for the most parts that aren't repetitious.

The overall picture becomes clearer as soon as we see the parents of these kids. Bria Vinaite gave a terrific performance as the protagonist's mother named Halley! We could precisely connect the dots where Moonee's (Brooklynn Prince) traits and behaviors stemmed from. Halley's a close friend of Ashley (Mela Murder), mother of the other kid who provides help whenever the former needs. The contrast between the two in terms of responsibility is illustrated vividly. We spend a good chunk of time with these characters and marinate ourselves in their proximity before the real story begins - when the kids burn a house.

Situation's dead serious now and Ashley does the right thing by barring his son from hanging out with Moonee. Friendship between both mothers are broken. Free food supply got cut. Halley's financially tight, therefore she confronts her pal to know why things are the way they are in an ugly restaurant embarrassment. Left with no choice to finance her rent, she had to find ways to make ends meet, starting from illegal perfume sales on a parking lot to stealing and finally, prostituting.

Director Sean Baker has done a wonderful job in keeping us at the perspective and headspace of a kid, rightfully so as the protagonist is one! We were kept at a distance wondering what's happening with Halley and the police at the end, while at the same time handed enough data for us as the audiences to process what's going on. In a relatively simple tale, the filmmaker also had ways of sustaining suspense by teasing something has transpired, but withholding the knowledge until the right time arrives to reveal it.

The place we're in is essentially a kids' land. Colors pop bright, especially the purple palette symbolizing menace and mischief. Artistic architectures such as the cupcake themed ice-cream stall, orange themed juice vendor and wizard-faced gift shop are fitting for the landscape! No matter how tough life gets, Moonee is always happy with her mother. But with such evidently shocking bad influence, even a kid from 'Future'land would be spoilt. Additional segment of the kids running away at the end is unnecessary however, as the camera quality too dropped due to understandable shooting issues within Disneyland.