The Florida Project is a film that, in an authentic way, brings light to the issues of poverty and homelessness in modern-day America, and gives you a sense of the raw feeling of hopelessness that many people feel in this situation.
Walt Disney World in Florida: 'The Happiest Place on Earth'. Bilde: BSchythe / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
In The Florida Project, we meet Halley and her six-year-old daughter Moonee, who live a tenuous existence just outside the gates of Disney World, which is often called “The Happiest Place on Earth”. The contrast between this fantasy world of happiness and Halley’s real life of poverty and desperation, is stark.
The film takes place over the summer break. Halley is unemployed and struggles to pay her weekly rent for the motel room at The Magic Castle. She does pretty much anything to keep a roof over her head – from begging and stealing theme park entry passes to scamming people and selling cheap perfume to rich tourists. She knows that if she is not able to pay the rent, she will be out on the street.
At the same time, her precocious daughter Moonee and her friends Dicky, Jancey, and Scooty run amok in the motel, mostly unsupervised, having adventures and finding joy in each other. There is boundless energy and childlike enthusiasm in everything they do, and Moonee is seemingly unaware of the desperation around her. But as the story develops, we see the loss of innocence that poverty forces upon children.
While watching the film, you should pay special attention to the acting performances. Director Sean Baker has made it his trademark to use new talents in his films, and with the exception of veteran actor Willem Dafoe, who plays the hotel manager Bobby, nearly the entire cast is made up of first-time or inexperienced actors. 23-year-old Bria Vinaite (Halley), five-year-old Valeria Cotto (Jancey) and eight-year-old Christopher Rivera (Scooty) are all new to the game. Seven-year-old Brooklynn Prince, who plays Moonee, is perhaps the most experienced, having done a few commercials earlier.
The Florida Project premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and has since received praise for Sean Baker’s directing and the performances, particularly of Brooklynn Prince and Willem Dafoe. It has won a number of awards and was also chosen by both the National Board of Review and American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of the year.
The Florida Project trivia
The Florida Project drew its title from Walt Disney’s code name for Walt Disney World Resort during its construction. In order to purchase as much cheap land as possible, he had to keep his plans a secret, and he only referred to the coming theme park as 'Project X' or 'The Florida Project'.
The Florida Project is filmed on the premises of The Magic Castle Inn and Suites, the same motel that is portrayed in the film. The motel continued to operate during filming, and some real-life residents and staff are seen in the film. The article 'In the shadow of Disney, living life on the margins' is about The Magic Castle Inn and Suites, and shows you that there are many similarities between the motel in the film and the real motel: link to the article on the Guardian's webpage.
In one of the scenes, Halley takes Jancey and Moonee to a quiet place after sunset to celebrate Jancey’s birthday with cake and fireworks. The fireworks you see is the IllumiNations, a nighttime show performed daily at the Epcot centre, one of the three parks in Walt Disney World Resort. The show utilises pyrotechnics, firework, water fountains, and lasers, and it costs $25 000 per show.
Bria Vinaite, who portrays Halley, was discovered by director Sean Baker through films that she had posted of herself on Instagram. She had three weeks of training in Florida before they started shooting the film. Producers had previously considered Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus (among others) for the role, but Baker felt it would be inauthentic to have a millionaire play the part.
Christopher Rivera (Scooty) was living in a motel room with his family, just like Moonee, when crew members spotted him and he was given a part in the film. He was able to earn enough money on the film for the family to move into an apartment. As a result of his part in the film, he was later offered a full scholarship to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, which he will attend after his graduation from high school. He will be the first in his family to attend college.
