The Florida Project

This film has incredibly accurate acting performances, where not only Willem Dafoe shows how great an actor he is, but especially the actors you don't know and can't know. The child actors are excellent, but the film is dominated by Bria Vinaite, who is incredibly accurate, disgusting, and to some extent pitiable. A well-chosen cast that was well directed. (04/02/2018)

I was able to overlook the complete senselessness for a long time and focused on the actors. Specifically, on Brooklynn Prince, who delivers without exaggeration the best child acting performance I have ever seen. But after a while, the noisy children, noisy adults, noisy arguments, and shouted vulgarities became too much, and I quietly suffered through most of the second half. Moreover, we hardly leave the motel complex, and the viewer can sense that they will have to wait only for small joys and greater concerns. The salvation of the script is the character of Bobby, on whom, thanks to surprisingly civilian Willem Dafoe, it is visible that he wants to help his tenants, but he suspects that for some, it's just throwing pearls before swine. However, a significant drawback for me is the fact that most of the time I couldn't get rid of thoughts about what awaits Moonee in her later years and how she might end up with a similar environment and similar mother. Even a heart of gold can spoil, and despite efforts for positive moments, these thoughts made me feel miserable. Three stars solely for Brooklynn, who, with a bit of luck, could become a real treasure. (16/01/2018)

This is exactly the kind of movie I usually go for – a feel-good movie and a classic indie drama. So, based on the reception of The Florida Project, my expectations were high. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t my thing. Although I agree with the high number of positive reviews, watching it was mind-numbing for me. As a de facto documentary about stereotypical white trash, it works perfectly, but apart from the character of Willem Dafoe, there is not a single at least partially likable character that I could relate to, quite the contrary. The behavior of the central group of three screaming kids was driving me nuts, and the main character of the mother - a typical representative of the American white trash mentality "I am a total wreck, an incompetent loser, absolutely useless to society and it’s somebody else’s fault, not mine" – just plain irritated me. There might have been those who experienced some sort of a powerful catharsis after the ending, but personally, I only experienced the feeling of being pissed off. I rarely look at my watch to see how much time is left until the end - in this case, after a while, it was every 5 minutes. (27/01/2019)

It’s been few days after the screening and I'm still thinking about this film. It's an incredibly "colorful" film, not only because of the camera, which captures the garishly colored architecture on the suburbs of Florida with gusto, but also in terms of feeling. An emotional roller-coaster ride with an almost infectious energy that mixes endless sadness with the happiness and naivety of young children and their parents from the margins of society, who – even though their lives are awful – can rejoice in the little things. On the one hand, it's a pretty depressing experience (you wouldn't want to be in the shoes of that mom), but it always makes up for it with the guileless child's view of the world, who doesn't worry about anything and enjoys what little life brings. The film doesn't make you feel depressed about your messed-up life, but rather caresses you, thanks to Willem Dafoe, who is a tough hotel manager, but a fair, straight man with protective instincts (brilliant scene with the paedophile!), to whom you would entrust your children with a calm heart, or go out for a beer with. His performance is so brilliant that his character doesn't devolve into a caricature of his goodness, but you actually believe that such people exist among us. American indie films are often cursed with a sense of authenticity, but you can always sort of see that they're just playing at it. Not this one, though, this one is authentic to the bone. This is the true portrait of people on the fringes of American society, who are called "white trash", this is the "real America", where Disneyland is shown off with its own opulence, so that only two streets away, the losers live in a cheap hotel, but they don't complain about their fate. The character of junkie mom Halley, in a remarkable creation by non-actress Bria Vinaite (the director found her on Facebook), is so above it all and so cool, in fact, that it's almost infectious. And the daughter played by Brooklyn Prince? I've seen all the films of Tomáš Holý, Haley Joel Osment and other great child actors, but Brooklyn leaves them in the dust with her brilliantly immediate acting! I just.... missed the movie so much that I had to watch it again after two weeks. All 165 (!!) festival award nominations, collected from all over the world, are well deserved. (26/03/2018)

The Florida Project is a film about three assholes. The first one you won't see, but her legacy is evident in the behavior of the older of the two protagonists in the film. She also had a mother who passed on her values and lifestyle to her daughter through her (lack of) upbringing, because assholes are recyclable. I would like to discuss two opinions that are often heard about this film. It is not a story about people from the bottom of American society. The inhabitants of cheap motels around Las Vegas may be far from prosperity, but they can afford regular payments for a roof over their heads and they don't go hungry. The real bottom is formed by numerous homeless people, residents of decaying urban ghettos, and reservations. A shocking percentage of Americans suffer from malnutrition, cannot afford medication, and they lack basic services. The protagonists of the film will most likely continue to actively work on their descent and will get to know the bottom of American society in old age when they can no longer sell their bodies worn out by tobacco, alcohol, and hard drugs. Their lifestyle and attitude prevent them from establishing a functional family and relying on their partners and children. Secondly: Those girls really don't feel despair and hopelessness. They enjoy life like few others. They don't worry about the future and they can be creative in getting sources and they don't even have bad sleep from their escapades. It is their surroundings that suffer. Those who have to deal with the consequences of their actions. By the way, what others perceive as the arrival of doom is actually the only spark of hope in that endless mess. Anyone who can be carried away by the tears of a six-year-old girl and not realize that if anyone is a victim, it's only her mother, doesn't have any sense. Sean Baker deserves recognition for choosing the main characters and flawless work with non-actors. The most outstanding character in the film is the deeply human figure of the hotel manager, who knows his sheep well, never succumbs to naivety, but rather acts sensitively and tries to help within his means. Willem Dafoe pulled off one of the most convincing performances of his career in this film. Overall impression: 65%. (04/08/2020)