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)

It didn’t sit well with me how the children told the story. It felt as if I packed a camera, flew to Florida, chose the motel closest to the airport in Orlando and sat there documenting what was happening around. I understand that was the intention of the movie but it simply wasn’t interesting to me. (18/01/2019)

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)

An excellent exploration of the lives of children whose parents are not exactly the most exemplary or affluent. Moonee, the little street urchin, was often up to mischief, but who could blame her when her mother lacked many virtues and deserved a good scolding herself. I enjoyed the colorfulness of the visuals and the energy of the narrative. An excellent match for those children's mischief. However, how Brooklynn Prince acted in the title role literally took my breath away. I ate it up, especially when she struck such a heartfelt melancholic note at the end. Throughout the film, I went through a range of feelings, from the universally negative to the joyful, and I kept wondering how this was all going to end. The finale itself, however, pleasantly surprised and moved me at the same time. I would also like to mention Willem Dafoe, who played the character of the morose caretaker Bobby with protective instincts to perfection. It gave the whole story a stamp of genuine humanity. (80%) (08/08/2020)

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)