When I was first learning media in secondary school, I was introduced to Tangerine. A film by a up-and-coming director, writer and editor called Sean Baker. It was filmed entirely on a set of iPhone 5's around Los Angeles and provided one of the most down-to-earth stories I'd seen from a film in a while. So, as a result, I was pretty excited I heard he had a new film coming. I was also surprised that the new film was The Florida Project. It mainly focuses on Moonee (Brooklyn Prince) a six year old, and her mother Halley (Bria Vinaite), who live in a motel just next to Disneyworld managed by Bobby (Willem Dafoe), paying their rent with the help of friends or resold Wholesale perfume.
The film is a lot more character driven than other 'real life' films, one of the many things I like about The Florida Project, but doesn't sacrifice narrative altogether. The events that do happen in the film revolve around the personalities of the characters and their actions, rather than the opposite where plot points are thrust upon them. It makes the film feel much more organic from the get-go, oddly immersing you in a reality that's not a whole lot different than the reality some people, unfortunately, live in today.
Another one of the things I noticed when watching the film was how much juxtaposition it used across the board. From the outset I knew that this was going to be a film about the poorest of the poor simply trying to survive in Florida and making the most of everything before it's gone, sold or moved out. Although when the film starts, what hits you immediately is how saturated the colour palette is. Usually such saturation is only used in contexts of surreality or positivity and would usually have no place in the moodier context of The Florida Project but the reason why is just as juxtapositional and just as exciting.
What sets The Florida Project apart from other media with children as the main protagonists is how it shows not just the narrative from the children's perspective, but everything else. Realising this explains the near over-saturation that's present in the film when the children are on screen and the changes in this palette when they're not. The performances given from the children greatly benefit the realism the film provides. In a different way to something like Stranger Things, they're not kids trying to figure out the world they live in and how to cope with its realities, but shrug these realities off and live life to fullest by their own terms.
This unique perspective also paves way for a subtle narrative that really works. This is because the film's writing feels like it revolves around the children. When the film details the struggles of reality for the film's adult cast, such as Halley and Bobby, the narrative that revolves around these characters aren't made significantly obvious, relying on viewers to fill the gap. For me these scenes harken back to overhearing 'adult' conversations as a child that I never needed to understand. Although watching the film now, knowing the realities of the world, makes the more enigmatic sequences intriguing and, in many cases for the film, empathetic.
Overall, The Florida Project shows a unique take on the realism we've come to understand from indie films in the 'slice of life' genre. Baker shows us not just the harsh reality of life, but the colourful rejection of that reality for the hope of something greater.