This film is part of Rentals
The Florida Project
Tangerine director Sean Baker presents another visionary take on the wild ups and dangerous downs of life in America’s underbelly, featuring an Oscar-nominated turn from Willem Dafoe.
Drama 2017 112 mins
Director: Sean Baker
Overview
Sean Baker’s magical, magnificent and madcap follow-up to Tangerine, set against the backdrop of America’s failed economy. Six-year-old Moonee (the astonishingly good Brooklynn Kimberly Prince) lives with her mother and other castaways from the American dream in a candy-floss-coloured roadside motel in Orlando. Disney World is just up the road, but their budget dayglow home is no plush hotel resort. Halley, Moonee’s mother, is only just an adult herself. More of an incorrigible older sister than a parent, she gets a kick out of juvenile hijinks, with utter disregard for their consequences. Meanwhile, nothing stops her daughter’s irrepressible sense of adventure; always unsupervised, Moonee roams the grounds with her gang, hustling change for ice creams, hosting spitting contests and teasing tolerant motel manager Bobby (a sublime, Oscar-nominated Willem Dafoe) to distraction.
The genius of Baker’s film is how it runs along two parallel tracks. Narrated from a child’s-eye view, this is a marvellous world of play and possibility. But adult viewers witnessing Halley’s life will suspect what’s coming for Moonee. That this dazzling, precocious girl is a lightning rod of wayward charm makes the inevitable so much harder to bear. The Florida Project is an ingenious, instant classic about childhood innocence.
strong language, sex referencesAccessibility
Related
Drama
The Perfect Candidate The Perfect Candidate
Drama 2019 105 mins Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Celebrated Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda) returns with an inspiring drama about a young doctor unexpectedly becoming an electoral candidate.
System Crasher System Crasher
Drama 2019 120 mins Director: Nora Fingscheidt
An intensive drama about a pre-pubescent girl who actually crashes Germany’s child and welfare system whilst on her quest for love and security.
And Then We Danced And Then We Danced
Drama 2019 113 mins Director: Levan Akin
Merab’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of a new dancer in this impassioned Cannes-winning love story.
Everybody Wants Some!! Everybody Wants Some!!
Drama 2014 117 mins Director: Richard Linklater
A gang of wild college jocks enjoy three days of freewheeling fun before school starts, in Richard Linklater’s ‘spiritual sequel’ to Boyhood and Dazed and Confused.
Jimmy's Hall Jimmy's Hall
Drama 2014 109 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s final fiction film is a spirited account of a 1930s Irish social club that becomes a bastion of jazz and free-thinking, angering the Church.
Sorry We Missed You Sorry We Missed You
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Ken Loach
Ken Loach’s look at working life in today’s gig economy is a fine and powerful successor to I, Daniel Blake.
Coming of Age
American Honey American Honey
Drama 2016 163 mins Director: Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold dazzles with a sun-soaked and tune-filled epic about door-to-door teenage magazine sellers (led by Shia LeBeouf) traversing the American highways.
Girlhood Girlhood
Drama 2014 113 mins Director: Céline Sciamma
In the tough suburbs of Paris, sixteen-year-old Marieme decides to reinvent herself when she joins a girl gang.
Fish Tank Fish Tank
Drama 2009 118 mins Director: Andrea Arnold
Mia loves to dance and longs to escape her Essex council estate but her uncontrollable rage is her worst enemy.
Summer 1993 Summer 1993
Drama 2017 98 mins Director: Carla Simón
An outstanding debut feature charting the emotional journey of a six-year old girl in the aftermath of her mother’s death in early 1990s Spain.
The Ciambra The Ciambra
Drama 2017 118 mins Director: Jonas Carpignano
A boy's life on the mean streets of a cloistered Calabrian community is captured in eye-opening realism, in this stunning work from the director of Mediterranea.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Drama 2017 92 mins Director: Desiree Akhavan
Desiree Akhavan’s award-winning follow-up to Appropriate Behaviour, with Chloë Grace Moretz as a teen sent to a gay conversion camp.
Featuring Willem Dafoe
American Psycho American Psycho
Drama 2000 102 mins Director: Mary Harron
Christian Bale slays his competition in this chilling satire set in ‘80s Wall Street.
Wild at Heart Wild at Heart
Drama 1990 125 mins Director: David Lynch
Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern are the lovers on the run in David Lynch’s violent, sexy and surreal road movie, a Palme d’Or winner in 1990.
The Last Temptation of Christ The Last Temptation of Christ
Drama 1988 163 mins Director: Martin Scorsese
Scorsese’s visually arresting interpretation of the life of Christ, featuring Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel and David Bowie.
A Most Wanted Man A Most Wanted Man
Thriller 2014 122 mins Director: Anton Corbijn
In one of his final roles, Philip Seymour Hoffman excels as a German spy attempting to recruit Islamic informants, in Anton Corbijn’s sophisticated John le Carré adaptation.
New
Vivarium Vivarium
Science Fiction 2019 98 mins Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg play a pair of first-time buyers who get more than they bargained for in this twisted fable about the horrors of suburban living.
The Perfect Candidate The Perfect Candidate
Drama 2019 105 mins Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour
Celebrated Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda) returns with an inspiring drama about a young doctor unexpectedly becoming an electoral candidate.
System Crasher System Crasher
Drama 2019 120 mins Director: Nora Fingscheidt
An intensive drama about a pre-pubescent girl who actually crashes Germany’s child and welfare system whilst on her quest for love and security.
The Street The Street
Documentary 2019 95 mins Director: Zed Nelson
The working-class community of Hoxton Street face the upheavals of gentrification, austerity and the eruption of Brexit, in this portrait of a rapidly changing London.
And Then We Danced And Then We Danced
Drama 2019 113 mins Director: Levan Akin
Merab’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of a new dancer in this impassioned Cannes-winning love story.
Cunningham Cunningham
Documentary 2019 93 mins Director: Alla Kovgan
This eye-popping portrait of great American choreographer Merce Cunningham celebrates the centenary of his birth.