The Florida Project

I've failed as a mother moony you've disgraced me!A24 Ranked "The Florida Project" might actually be a top 10 movie of all time, exploring so many important subjects with such care. Of the many themes it delves into, a lost childhood and poverty seem the most predominant. It's about an era that still exists where kids were unsupervised and roamed around doing whatever they pleased, without a care in the world. It's a homage to that kind of childhood, seen mostly through Moonee's eyes. I loved the attention to the color palette that Sean Baker put into this. We see this world through a child's eyes, and he made sure to make the ugliness of poverty and the sad scenes in front of us beautiful and vibrant. When we are kids, we don't understand much; we have no cares in the summer and we're there to have fun. As we grow older, we start realizing how much more colorless the world gets. But Moonee, for example, is still a kid and manages to find beauty and fun in the purple castle, so Sean made sure we found it too. He presents everything wonderful we can remember from our childhood: that feeling of freedom when we finally have vacations, the adrenaline, and feeling of invincibility. Yet, as the story progresses, it gets darker and we start to get in touch with the reality of poverty and desperation they were basically forced to acclimatize to. The biggest example of this is Halley. Her aggression and the way she is always happy and ironic, using irony and aggression as a method of defense because she is trying to protect the little happiness she has (the kids). Maybe Halley didn't do it on purpose, but as the movie goes on, her influence over Moonee prejudices Moonee as she starts to act like her mother, especially towards the end where the camera switches between Moonee and Halley and their reactions, with the framing being the exact same. This opens a window into Halley's backstory; she probably grew up in Moonee's situation, poor and with a bad guardian. As an adult, she acts like a kid without caring how her actions affect others or the consequences. She grew up in a broken home and was forced early by society to take responsibility, never learning how to deal with her emotions. She had to face her (and Moonee's) consequences in the end, which is so depressing because it's probably that turning point in Moonee's life where she will now have to start taking responsibility and be an adult. She knows it, so she desperately tries to preserve her innocence and freedom by escaping to Disney World. That ending scene, at first, I wasn't the biggest fan of how it was shot, but it really hit me. It is that turning point where we stop seeing the vibrant colors and candy-like palette and see the real world with much fewer colors. This is when Moonee transitions from childhood to forced adulthood. Jancey and she probably went to Disney World because Disney is where childhood is preserved, and we can relive it. That break from film to digital is nothing but a sad reminder that no matter how much Moonee tries to escape, she is following her mother's path. No matter how much she tries to hold on to her childhood, it is now lost forever. The movie might not seem like much, but A24 in 2017 was already a big company. 2017-2019 was when they were really growing, and launching a movie like this in an era where healthcare was being denied to people with low income was eye-opening. It showed people the lives of those individuals and broke so many cliche rules of cinema. It breaks the three-act rule of movies; it is more fluid and free, which only makes the movie more real, honest, and in touch with the world it is exploring. It feels natural and is like a poor version of "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Another cliche it broke is that it tackles poverty, but, like I mentioned before, it’s not through the struggles of the adults but through the happiness of the kids. Even the hotel name has magic in it, and the world feels like their playground. The cinematography was beautiful, something so hard to do in a movie like this. It is energized and happy, capturing the essence of childhood. The camera shots were carefully placed at ground level, making everything seem so tall and big, like we felt when we were little. With the eye-level shots of Moonee, we sometimes can’t even see the adults' faces because, as kids, we didn’t pay attention to them. Even the reveal that Halley is prostituting herself is only seen through Moonee’s eyes. It’s a devastating and painful reveal, but Sean Baker still does it through the kids’ eyes. All the violent and devastating moments are seen through the children. Baker is trying to tell us that the influences of the world around us when we are kids will shape who we become and sometimes put us into an endless cycle, like with Halley and Moonee. This brings me to what I said before about Moonee starting to act like her mother, with the selfies and not just that. We see plenty of other times where the kids mirror the adults' actions and behaviors. All these mirroring and connections make Halley and Moonee feel like the same character but just at different stages of their lives—not a mother and daughter, but the same person hurting each other. Halley doesn’t realize how badly she is affecting this kid, and Moonee doesn’t see the troubles and stress she puts her mom through. It has such a dark undertone but still manages to make those special, happy moments, like the ice cream hunts, feel so vivid, special, and hopeful. The movie is full of misery and happiness so smoothly intertwined. It is also a movie about childhood, and the mannerisms of the kids were what stood out the most to me. It’s just the way they act; they act so realistically and naturally. It felt so real. I acted the same way as a child, waving my arms around when standing, running with my arms all crazy, heavy random blinks, itching out of nowhere, not knowing what to do with my arms. It all felt a little too close to home, even though I didn’t grow up poor. Baker constructs this sense of empathy for the characters and their struggles, and then the inevitable happens. Baker poured all his art into this movie; it’s a lifetime underrated masterpiece. He uses Disney World as escapism to childhood and transmits the idea of a lack of caring, understanding, and support and how that can affect us without noticing. He shows us that no matter how bad a person seems, they might be struggling, and we should try to find a way to help them. Overall, "The Florida Project" might be a top 10 movie of all time, exploring themes of lost childhood and poverty with such mastery and care. A24's 2017 release came during a time when healthcare was being denied to low-income people, making its portrayal of unsupervised, carefree childhoods even more important . Through Moonee's eyes, Sean Baker contrasts the vibrancy of childhood with the harsh reality of poverty. The film breaks cinematic conventions, offering a fluid, natural narrative that reminds me of "The Grand Budapest Hotel." The cinematography captures the world from a child's perspective, emphasizing innocence amidst adversity. Halley's struggle and her impact on Moonee reflect a cycle of hardship. Despite its dark undertones, the movie balances misery and happiness, making moments like ice cream hunts feel vivid and hopeful. Baker's portrayal of childhood, empathy for the characters, and use of Disney World as escapism highlight the importance of support and understanding, marking this as a lifetime underrated masterpiece.