The Florida Project

Writer-director Sean Baker's film is an incomprehensibly exuberant celebration of an insolent, 6-year-old delinquent and her irresponsibly volatile mother. Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) and 22-year-old, heavily tattooed Halley (Bria Vinaite) live at Orlando's Magic Castle, which is a garish, $35-a-night motel just outside Disney World. Irrepressible Moonee hangs out with friends Scooty (Christopher Rivera) and Jancey (Valeria Cotto). Unsupervised, the trio spend most of their time making mischief, cadging free meals and begging for money to buy ice cream. One day, while exploring some deserted condos, the kids set them on fire. After questioning her son about the vandalism, Scooty's decent, hardworking mother (Mela Murder) discovers the truth, and she forbids him to hang out with Moonee anymore and severs her friendship with the increasingly surly Halley. Bobby (Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe), the calm and compassionate motel manager, is a pivotal figure, maintaining his equilibrium even when the unruly kids try his patience. There's a memorable scene in which he protectively dispatches a creepy pervert who is hanging around the picnic tables. Best known for making Tangerine (2015) on iPhones, Baker is obviously fascinated with exploiting the bleak, antisocial underbelly of economic inequality around the Magic Kingdom. But Halley's narrative arc makes no sense. While she ostensibly lost her job as a stripper because she refused to provide customers with backroom extras, she shows no hesitation turning tricks in the motel, sequestering Moonee behind the shower curtain in a bathtub filled with toys. Widely acclaimed by critics, this may be the most depressing film of the year. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include cast and crew interviews (50 min.), an 'Under the Rainbow' making-of featurette (22 min.), and bloopers and outtakes (3 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this downbeat drama.] (S. Granger)