Hubbry Logo
The Florida ProjectThe Florida ProjectMain
Open search
The Florida Project
Community hub
The Florida Project
logo
7 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
The Florida Project
The Florida Project
The Florida Project
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

The Florida Project
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySean Baker
Written by
Produced by
  • Sean Baker
  • Chris Bergoch
  • Shih-Ching Tsou
  • Andrew Duncan
  • Alex Saks
  • Kevin Chinoy
  • Francesca Silvestri
Starring
CinematographyAlexis Zabe
Edited bySean Baker
Production
companies
Distributed byA24
Release dates
  • May 22, 2017 (2017-05-22) (Cannes)
  • October 6, 2017 (2017-10-06) (United States)
Running time
111 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2 million[2]
Box office$11.3 million[3]

The Florida Project is a 2017 American drama film directed by Sean Baker, written by Baker and Chris Bergoch, and starring Bria Vinaite in her film debut, Brooklynn Prince, and Willem Dafoe, with Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, and Caleb Landry Jones in supporting roles. It was many of the cast members' first film appearance. The slice of life plot focuses on the summertime adventures of a six-year-old girl who lives with her unemployed single mother in a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida. Their struggle to make ends meet and stave off homelessness takes place in a realistic environment near Walt Disney World, which was code-named "The Florida Project" during its planning stages.[4] It juxtaposes this with the local residents' less glamorous day-to-day lives and the children's joyful adventures as they explore and make the most of their surroundings while remaining blissfully ignorant of the hardships their adult caretakers face.[5]

The film premiered in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States by A24 on October 6, 2017. It was acclaimed by critics,[6] who praised the performances and Baker's direction; Vinaite earned particular acclaim for her performance. Prince's work earned her a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer, while Dafoe was judged to have given "his finest performance in recent memory",[7] receiving Best Supporting Actor nods at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and BAFTA Awards.[8][9]

Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named The Florida Project one of the top ten films of the year.[10][11]

Plot

[edit]

Moonee, a six-year-old girl, lives with her young, single mother, Halley, at Magic Castle Inn and Suites, a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida, near Walt Disney World. Moonee spends most of her summer days unsupervised and making mischief with her downstairs neighbor, Scooty (whom Halley is supposed to watch while his mother, Ashley, works as a waitress at a diner), and Dicky, who lives at the nearby Futureland Inn. After Stacy, a new Futureland resident, catches the trio spitting on her car, Dicky is grounded for a week, and Moonee and Scooty meet and befriend Stacy's granddaughter, Jancey, who lives with Stacy.

Halley has recently lost her job as a stripper after refusing to have sex with clients, but this now affects her eligibility for TANF benefits; she begins relying on food that Ashley obtains from work. Struggling to pay rent, Halley begins selling knockoff perfume to tourists in the parking lots of upscale hotels with Moonee's help. Meanwhile, Moonee and Scooty show Jancey around the neighborhood and teach her things, like how to get ice cream by begging. They regularly inconvenience Bobby, the Magic Castle's manager, once shutting off the motel's power. Despite this, he remains protective of them. Bobby's duties include preparing expense reports, ejecting drug dealers, and doing repairs; he sometimes enlists the help of his son, Jack, with whom he has a tenuous relationship.

After Dicky's family moves to New Orleans, Scooty finds a lighter in a box that Dicky's family left behind; he, Moonee, and Jancey start a fire at an abandoned condominium complex. Seeing the fire, Ashley figures out that Scooty was involved, and forbids him from hanging out with Moonee or Jancey; she also severs ties with Halley and Moonee.

Without the free food from Ashley, and with security guards beginning to bother her at the hotels, Halley's financial situation declines even further. She begins soliciting sex work online, keeping Moonee in the bathroom with loud music when she has a client over. When Halley and Moonee steal a client's Disney World resort passes to scalp them, he returns to demand them back. Bobby scares him off but applies restrictions on unregistered guests in Halley's room; he also warns her that he will evict her if she continues having clients over. In desperation, Halley approaches Ashley to apologize and ask for money. Ashley criticizes Halley for doing sex work and threatens to kill her if her son was ever exposed to Halley's prostitution; enraged, Halley viciously beats her in front of Scooty.

Soon afterward, DCF investigators show up and question Halley and Moonee separately about their lifestyle. In anticipation of another visit, Halley gives away her weed and has Moonee help clean their room. They go to a fancier hotel and have an extravagant meal, which Halley charges to a guest's room. When they return to Magic Castle, the investigators, having found evidence of Halley's sex work, are waiting with two police officers to take Moonee into foster care while they finish their inquiry. Not fully understanding what is happening, Moonee asks to say goodbye to Scooty, who lets slip that she is going to a new family. Upset, Moonee runs away from the investigators to bid Jancey goodbye. Seeing her friend's distress, Jancey grabs Moonee's hand and the two run away to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park.

Cast

[edit]
  • Willem Dafoe as Bobby Hicks, the manager of Magic Castle
  • Brooklynn Kimberly Prince as Moonee, a six-year-old girl
  • Bria Vinaite as Halley, Moonee's mother
  • Valeria Cotto as Jancey, Moonee's new friend
  • Christopher Rivera as Scooty, Moonee's friend
  • Caleb Landry Jones as Jack, Bobby's son
  • Aiden Malik as Dicky, Moonee's friend who moves away
  • Josie Olivo as Grandma Stacey, Jancey's grandmother
  • Edward "Punky" Pagan as Dicky's dad
  • Patti Wiley as Amber, a receptionist at Magic Castle
  • Rosa Medina Perez as Bertha, who does the laundry at Magic Castle
  • Mela Murder as Ashley, Scooty's mother
  • Sandy Kane as Gloria, who likes to sit by the Magic Castle pool topless
  • Jim Coleman as a cabbie
  • Andrew Romano as a newlywed on a honeymoon
  • Carolina Grabova as a newlywed on a honeymoon
  • Terry Allen Jones as Patrice, a receptionist at Magic Castle
  • Karren Karagulian as Narek, the owner of Magic Castle
  • Carl Bradfield as Charlie Coachman, a man Bobby ejects from Magic Castle property
  • Shail Kamini Ramcharan as Arabian Nights owner
  • Kit Sullivan as Arabian Nights manager Jimmy
  • Macon Blair as tourist John
  • Lauren O'Quinn as DCF investigator
  • Cecilia Quinan as DCF supervisor

Production

[edit]

Development

[edit]

Writer Chris Bergoch noticed a lot of children playing in motel parking lots while visiting his mother in Orlando, Florida. Sean Baker said he had always been inspired by the Our Gang films, because the characters "were actually living in poverty, but the focus was the joy of childhood, the humor that comes from watching and hearing children."[12][6]

In December 2017, producer Andrew Duncan stepped down from his role as financier of June Pictures after numerous allegations of sexual harassment.[13] Baker said:[14][15]

While we did not witness nor have any knowledge of inappropriate behavior, we are of course deeply concerned about these allegations. I have been outspoken before and firmly believe that film sets and work environments absolutely must be safe spaces for everyone regardless of gender, age, race, or creed.

Filming

[edit]

The Florida Project was filmed in the summer of 2016 on location in Osceola County, Florida,[16] including at the real Magic Castle Inn & Suites on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee, about six miles from Walt Disney World.[17]

Unlike Baker's previous film, which was shot with an iPhone, The Florida Project was filmed on 35mm film, except for the final scene, which was shot without authorization in Disney World's Magic Kingdom park using an iPhone 6S Plus.[18][19] To maintain secrecy, the shoot at the resort used a skeleton crew consisting of Baker, Bergoch, cinematographer Alexis Zabe, acting coach and associate producer Samantha Quan, actors Valeria Cotto and Brooklynn Prince, and the girls' guardians.[19] Baker intended the ending to be open to interpretation:[19]

We've been watching Moonee use her imagination and wonderment throughout the entire film to make the best of the situation she's in—she can't go to Disney's Animal Kingdom, so she goes to the "safari" behind the motel and looks at cows; she goes to the abandoned condos because she can't go to the Haunted Mansion. And in the end, with this inevitable drama, this is me saying to the audience, if you want a happy ending, you're gonna have to go to that headspace of a kid because, here, that's the only way to achieve it.

Baker's sister, billed as "Stephonik Youth", was the film's production designer.[20] The film's signature pastel colors were already present at the location. When a rainbow or a group of sandhill cranes suddenly appeared, the cast and crew quickly improvised scenes that were highly praised for their cinéma vérité qualities.[21]

Release

[edit]
Willem Dafoe's performance was critically acclaimed and nominated for several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

The film had its world premiere on May 22, 2017, in the Directors Fortnight section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival,[22][23] and shortly thereafter A24 acquired the film's U.S. distribution rights, which had also sparked interest from Amazon Studios, Neon, and Annapurna Pictures, among others.[24] Its limited theatrical release in the U.S. began on October 6, 2017.[25] Lionsgate released the film on Blu-ray, DVD, and download.

Reception

[edit]

Critical response

[edit]

The Florida Project received critical acclaim upon its release, with particular praise for Baker's direction and the performances of Dafoe, Prince, and Vinaite. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 96% based on 320 reviews, with an average rating of 8.8/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "The Florida Project offers a colorfully empathetic look at an underrepresented part of the population that proves absorbing even as it raises sobering questions about modern America."[26] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 based on reviews from 44 critics.[27]

Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote, "Dafoe delivers his finest performance in recent memory, bringing to life a levelheaded, unsanctimonious character who offers a glimmer of hope and caring within a world markedly short on both."[7] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It's film that'll make you wince at times, and you'll most likely not want to see twice, but seeing it once is an experience you'll not soon forget."[28]

In June 2025, The Florida Project ranked 74th on The New York Times's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and 70th on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[29][30] In July 2025, it ranked 63rd on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century".[31]

Accolades

[edit]
Main article: List of accolades received by The Florida Project

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

The Florida Project

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Sean Baker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Bergoch, and starring Willem Dafoe as a motel manager alongside non-professional child actors Brooklynn Prince as a six-year-old girl and Bria Vinaite as her mother. The film centers on the summer experiences of the girl, her mother, and neighboring children in a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida, near Walt Disney World Resort, capturing the contrast between the nearby theme park's fantasy and the residents' realities of poverty, transience, and survival tactics including petty crime and sex work. Released theatrically in the United States on October 6, 2017, by A24 following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the film earned critical acclaim for its neorealist style, authentic casting, and unflinching depiction of lower-class struggles without sentimentality, achieving a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 318 reviews and grossing $5.8 million at the box office against a modest budget. Willem Dafoe's performance received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, one of 68 wins and 134 nominations overall, including accolades from film critics associations for best film and direction. While praised for humanizing marginalized lives through a child's perspective, some critiques noted abrupt narrative shifts and limited character depth beyond surface-level survival, reflecting the film's intentional slice-of-life approach over conventional plotting.

Synopsis and Characters

Plot Summary

depicts a summer in , at the Magic Castle Inn, a low-rent situated near , where six-year-old Moonee resides with her single mother, Halley. Moonee, portrayed as energetic and carefree, spends her days exploring the motel's surroundings and forming bonds with local children, including her best friend Scooty and new acquaintance Jancey, engaging in unstructured play that often borders on mischief. Halley, facing chronic and mounting debts, hustles through minor scams such as selling discounted and later turns to sex work to secure weekly rent payments, frequently clashing with motel manager Bobby, who enforces rules while providing reluctant oversight to the unsupervised children. Bobby attempts to maintain order among the transient residents and intervenes in minor incidents involving the kids, highlighting the fragile balance of daily survival in this environment of economic precarity. As Halley's circumstances deteriorate, her actions draw scrutiny from authorities, threatening the unstable family dynamic and forcing confrontations with systemic child welfare interventions.

Cast and Performances

The principal cast of The Florida Project (2017) includes Brooklynn Prince as Moonee, a six-year-old girl living in a budget motel near Walt Disney World; Bria Vinaite as her mother Halley, a struggling single parent engaging in petty crime and sex work to survive; and Willem Dafoe as Bobby, the compassionate motel manager who attempts to maintain order amid tenant chaos. Supporting roles feature non-professional child actors Christopher Rivera as Scooty, Moonee's friend involved in minor mischief, and Valeria Cotto as Jancey, another playmate facing family instability; additional performers include Aiden Malik as Dicky and Josie Olivo as Grandma Stacy. Director Sean Baker cast many roles, particularly the children, through open calls in Orlando, Florida, prioritizing local non-actors to capture authentic regional dynamics and unscripted naturalism. Performances emphasize raw realism over polished technique, with Prince's debut as Moonee drawing acclaim for portraying childlike wonder and resilience amid without sentimental exaggeration; critics noted her ability to embody unfiltered curiosity and emotional volatility, contributing to the film's immersive depiction of transient . Vinaite, selected from submissions in her first major role, delivered a portrayal of Halley as a flawed yet devoted mother whose desperation leads to moral compromise, praised for avoiding and conveying the incremental erosion of parental boundaries through subtle behavioral shifts. Dafoe's restrained interpretation of Bobby as a paternal figure enforcing rules while showing quiet earned widespread recognition, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2018 and a Golden Globe nomination, with reviewers highlighting his grounded presence as a to the surrounding disorder. The ensemble of mostly inexperienced , including the children who improvised much of their , enhanced the film's documentary-like quality, though this approach drew mixed commentary on whether it prioritized over narrative polish; defended the method as essential for reflecting real-life motel inhabitants' speech patterns and interactions. Prince received a Critics' Choice nomination for Best Young Actor/Actress, underscoring the breakout impact of the juvenile leads despite limited formal . Overall, the cast's unvarnished executions were credited with elevating the film's exploration of survival economics, though some analyses questioned the of depicting child in scenes of implied hardship without overt exploitation.

Background and Production

Real-World Inspirations

The real-world inspirations for The Florida Project originated from director Sean Baker's encounters with reports on Florida's "hidden homeless" populations, particularly families with children residing in budget motels near in Kissimmee. Baker cited black-and-white newspaper articles highlighting these communities, where economic distress forces long-term stays in extended-stay facilities due to the lack of options. This juxtaposition of against the nearby theme park's illusion of prosperity provided the narrative framework, emphasizing overlooked daily survival amid tourism affluence. The film's central setting, the motel, directly reflects the real Magic Castle Inn and Suites in Kissimmee, approximately six miles from , where occurred with the property owner's approval. These motels house transient low-income residents, including single-parent households and individuals in informal work, exemplifying a national pattern of motel dependency as an alternative to street . Production incorporated actual long-term tenants as extras to authentically capture communal interactions, such as children playing unsupervised in parking lots and adults navigating rent pressures. Key characters drew from observed figures in these environments; for instance, the motel manager Bobby was modeled after a real employee at the who handled resident disputes and welfare checks. Baker's preparation included a year-long research phase in 2015, funded by a grant, involving travel to Orlando for scouting motel strips and embedding with locals to document cycles of weekly payments, utility shutoffs, and child welfare interventions. This immersion underscored systemic issues like the instability of motel living, where evictions loom despite proximity to economic opportunity.

Development

Co-writer Chris Bergoch first suggested the concept to director Sean Baker after becoming aware of families residing in budget motels near Walt Disney World in Kissimmee, Florida, a situation his mother had observed in the Orlando area. Bergoch proposed the idea around the time Baker completed Starlet in 2012, highlighting the "hidden homeless" phenomenon of transient families living in extended-stay motels adjacent to the Disney resort. Baker, drawn to the stark juxtaposition of childhood innocence amid poverty and the theme park's marketed magic, pursued the project as a narrative fiction film. Baker and Bergoch, longtime collaborators from NYU Tisch, conducted extensive research through multiple trips to Kissimmee and Orlando, scouting along routes like U.S. Highway 192 and interviewing managers and residents to capture authentic details of daily life. This immersion informed character development, including the motel manager inspired by a real manager's protective demeanor toward children, and shaped the screenplay's focus on episodic vignettes rather than a conventional . They drew character names ending in "e" or "y" from the Our Gang shorts for a sense of timeless, naturalistic playfulness. A development grant from enabled a dedicated year of further , , and initial in the Orlando region, allowing Baker and Bergoch to refine based on real encounters, such as meeting individuals mirroring the protagonists at a local . The emphasized social-realist elements, prioritizing observed behaviors over plotted drama, with influences from black-and-white news reports on Florida's motel-dwelling families. This phase culminated in a production draft dated July 31, 2016, prior to .

Filming Process

Principal photography for The Florida Project occurred over 28 days in the summer of 2016, primarily in , approximately six miles from along U.S. Highway 192. The production utilized real budget motels, such as the Magic Castle Inn and Suites, to capture authentic environments reflecting the lives of transient families near tourist attractions. The film was shot predominantly on 35mm film stock by cinematographer Alexis Zabe to achieve a vibrant, textured aesthetic suited to Florida's saturated colors and to evoke a sense of nostalgia, diverging from director Sean Baker's prior iPhone-based work on Tangerine. Cinematography emphasized natural lighting and handheld camera work to create a raw, documentary-like immersion, with long takes inspired by filmmakers like Bruno Dumont to allow for organic performances. Baker's directing style incorporated extensive , particularly with child actors and non-professional performers, who underwent workshops and were guided by an on-set acting coach to foster genuine interactions. Scenes involving real pedestrians, such as roadside sales, required actors to be mic'd and telephoto lenses employed for candid captures, often necessitating on-the-spot release forms. Production faced significant hurdles, including a compressed schedule originally planned for up to 57 days but reduced due to budget constraints of around $2-3 million, Florida's intense summer heat, daily thunderstorms, and deviations from the script for spontaneous opportunities. Mid-shoot revisions to the Halley's storyline necessitated major schedule restructuring and scene reordering. Transitioning to a union crew of over 40 members clashed with Baker's guerrilla roots, leading to continuity disputes, crew frustration over improvisations, and a near-shutdown after losing an early on.

Thematic Analysis

Portrayal of Poverty and Daily Survival

The film depicts through the experiences of single mother Halley and her six-year-old daughter Moonee, who reside in the , a budget motel serving as extended-stay housing for low-income families near in . Halley's lack of , support, and employable skills traps her in a cycle of desperation, where she resorts to informal hustles such as discounted perfume and engaging in to cover weekly rent and basic needs like food. These tactics reflect a driven by immediate economic pressures, with motel manager Bobby enforcing residency rules—such as prohibiting on-site sex work—while navigating conflicts like evictions and resident disputes. Daily life emphasizes precarious transience, with families facing threats from Child Protective Services and legal limits on motel habitation, often resulting in cramped rooms shared across generations or peers. Halley's efforts include petty schemes amid interpersonal tensions, such as physical altercations over resources, underscoring the absence of safety nets and the constant risk of displacement. Director Sean Baker, drawing from observations of "hidden homeless" populations in Orlando motels, portrays these elements without individual blame, attributing struggles to systemic barriers like unemployability rather than moral failings. From Moonee's child-centric viewpoint, manifests in unstructured play and mischief, such as roaming grounds, entering restricted areas like abandoned houses, or skimming complimentary hotel breakfasts, which provide fleeting joy amid adult hardships the children partially perceive but cannot fully escape. This innocence coexists with exposure to instability, including unsupervised outings that border on endangerment, highlighting how erodes conventional parenting while children improvise games—like spitting contests—to cope. notes that such depictions aim to evoke empathy for families in "," framing as a nationwide phenomenon visible in overlooked urban fringes, not confined to .

Family Structures and Personal Choices


The film depicts family structures centered on single motherhood amid economic precarity, with Halley, a young and immature parent raising her six-year-old daughter Moonee in a Kissimmee motel. Described by director Sean Baker as "a child having a child," Halley's relationship with Moonee resembles a sibling bond rather than traditional parental authority, marked by shared playfulness but lacking consistent discipline or stability. This dynamic reflects broader patterns observed in Baker's research, where post-2008 recession families resorted to weekly motel rentals as a final housing option, avoiding permanent residency to evade child welfare scrutiny. Halley's personal choices drive the narrative's tension, progressing from minor scams like selling overpriced to tourists and vandalizing properties, to escort services for rent payments after exhausting other income sources. These decisions, framed as inventive survival tactics in the face of job scarcity and shortages, temporarily stabilize their situation—allowing purchases for Moonee and brief periods of contentment—but escalate risks, culminating in Halley's arrest and Moonee's removal by . Baker's non-judgmental lens, informed by direct conversations with at-risk mothers, highlights how such choices emerge from systemic constraints like unaffordable , yet the story causally links them to familial dissolution, underscoring consequences independent of intent. Surrogate family elements emerge through motel manager Bobby, who enforces rules while providing meals, guidance, and to Moonee and other children, filling voids left by absent fathers and overwhelmed parents. This informal structure offers fleeting stability in an environment of chaos, including intergenerational patterns where young mothers replicate unstable upbringings. Thematically, the film illustrates how personal agency within limited options shapes family outcomes, portraying not as deterministic excuse but as context amplifying the fallout of imprudent decisions, such as prioritizing short-term gains over long-term child welfare.

Contrasts with Prosperity and Systemic Critiques

The film's setting in , mere miles from underscores a stark proximity between destitution and opulence, with the theme park's annual attendance exceeding 58 million visitors in fiscal year 2017 and generating over $20 billion in economic impact for the state, yet local persisted amid low-wage tourism jobs. In County, encompassing Kissimmee, the poverty rate stood at approximately 18.6% in 2017, surpassing the metro area's 11.8% and reflecting structural economic disparities where seasonal service employment offered median wages below $25,000 annually for many residents. Narratively, this manifests in scenes where children like Moonee gaze at Disney's nightly from motel parking lots, aping the park's spectacles through makeshift games, while their families subsist on hustles and extended-stay subsidies that trap them in limbo rather than fostering upward mobility. This juxtaposition critiques the illusion of accessible prosperity, as the Disney complex symbolizes engineered escapism for affluent tourists—drawing from a 2017 park ticket averaging $100 per day—while nearby motels house families excluded by such costs, highlighting how geographic adjacency to wealth does not equate to its diffusion without individual agency. Director Sean Baker drew from real motel economies, where proprietors like Bobby (Willem Dafoe) extend credit or accept welfare reimbursements to retain occupants, perpetuating a cycle where short-term aid supplants long-term stability. Empirical patterns in the area support this, with Osceola County's child poverty rate nearing 25% in the late 2010s, often linked to single-parent households and irregular employment rather than absolute job scarcity. Systemically, the narrative indicts failures in safety nets that enable maladaptive behaviors over , as Halley's pursuits—petty scams, , and evasion of services—escalate , culminating in state intervention via , a recourse backed by Florida's 2017 removal of over 10,000 children from unstable homes annually. Unlike portrayals emphasizing victimhood, the film attributes persistence of hardship to personal decisions amid available low-barrier work, such as motel maintenance or retail, critiquing a culture where welfare-adjacent living discourages skill-building or family formation. Baker's non-judgmental lens reveals causal chains: absent fathers, maternal priortization of leisure, and community norms of improvisation over discipline, aligning with broader data showing single-mother households facing 4-5 times higher odds nationally. This avoids romanticizing dependency, instead exposing how proximity to prosperity amplifies the tragedy of squandered potential without accountability.

Release and Commercial Aspects

Premiere and Distribution

The Florida Project had its world in the section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2017. Following the Cannes screening, acquired North American distribution rights to the film on May 26, 2017. handled the U.S. theatrical distribution, releasing the film in limited release on October 6, 2017, initially in four theaters. The release expanded gradually, reaching 35 screens by its third weekend. Internationally, Altitude Film Entertainment distributed the film in the , with a on November 10, 2017. Other territories included via A-One Films in 2018 and through 20th Century Fox in 2018.

Box Office and Financial Performance

The Florida Project was released in limited theatrical distribution in the United States on October 6, 2017, by distributor A24. It debuted in four theaters, generating $157,553 during its opening weekend. The film ultimately earned $5,904,366 in domestic receipts and expanded to a widest release of 229 theaters. Internationally, it grossed $5,328,569, resulting in a worldwide theatrical total of $11,232,935. With a reported of $2,000,000, the movie achieved theatrical earnings equivalent to 5.6 times its costs, reflecting strong relative performance for an independent production reliant on critical acclaim rather than wide or star-driven . Ancillary revenues, including DVD and Blu-ray following its January 30, 2018, release, contributed further to its financial viability, though specific figures for those streams remain undisclosed in primary tracking data.

Reception and Impact

Critical Evaluations

The film received widespread critical acclaim upon its , earning a 96% approval rating on based on 318 reviews, with critics highlighting its empathetic portrayal of childhood amid economic hardship. On , it scored 92 out of 100 from 44 critics, reflecting strong consensus on its technical and emotional achievements. Reviewers frequently praised director Sean Baker's use of non-professional child actors for naturalistic performances that capture unfiltered innocence and resilience, as seen in the lead role of as Moonee. Critics lauded the film's vivid depiction of daily survival in motels near , contrasting the protagonists' chaotic lives with the adjacent theme park's engineered fantasy, which underscores broader economic disparities without overt . Brian Tallerico of awarded it four out of four stars, commending its embrace of granular details in a story of single motherhood and precarity that avoids sentimentality. Variety's described it as a fringe narrative viewed through a child's lens, emphasizing Baker's shift from his prior iPhone-shot work to a more polished yet raw aesthetic. The Guardian's called it a "wondrous child's-eye view" of deprivation, noting the vibrant energy infused by the young cast's improvisational freedom. Willem Dafoe's supporting performance as the motel manager Bobby was singled out for its grounded authority and subtle compassion, earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and praise for anchoring the film's ensemble amid instability. Some evaluations critiqued the film for potentially idealizing poverty's "organic" aspects, with one analysis arguing it projects a utopian community born from hardship rather than addressing root causes like individual agency. Another review questioned whether critics overstated its revelations, suggesting the portrayal of -based underclass life echoes prior works without novel systemic insights. Despite such notes, the consensus positioned it as a poignant, unflinching examination of American dynamics, influencing subsequent indie cinema on marginalization.

Audience Perspectives and Debates

Audiences have generally responded positively to The Florida Project, with an user rating of 7.7 out of 10 based on over 140,000 votes as of recent aggregates. On , the audience score stands at 79%, lower than the 96% critics' approval, suggesting a divergence where general viewers appreciate the film's raw depiction of childhood amid hardship but sometimes find its episodic structure and lack of conventional resolution less engaging. A central debate among viewers centers on the film's portrayal of , with some praising its unvarnished realism drawn from real-life observations near , where motel living represents hidden affecting over 1,000 families annually in , as documented in local reports. Supporters argue it humanizes survival strategies without sentimentality, emphasizing resilience through a 's perspective that avoids didactic moralizing. Critics within audience discussions, however, label it "poverty porn," contending that the vivid, immersive style—shot with non-professional actors improvising—risks aestheticizing dysfunction for voyeuristic appeal, potentially glamorizing cycles of parental and petty rather than critiquing root causes like welfare dependencies or economic policies. This view posits that the film's refusal to impose judgment mirrors a broader cultural reluctance to attribute to individual choices over systemic factors, though empirical data on U.S. rates (around 16% in 2016 per Census Bureau figures) underscores the prevalence of such motel-based transience without endorsing behavioral explanations. The film's ambiguous ending, shifting to a runaway sequence with fireworks, has polarized viewers: enthusiasts interpret it as poetic capturing fleeting escape and innocence, aligning with director Sean Baker's intent to evoke fairy-tale contrasts against Disney's artifice. Detractors see it as manipulative or unresolved, arguing it evades accountability for characters' decisions, such as the mother's , which some audiences view as enabling rather than critiquing moral hazards in environments. This split highlights tensions between empathetic immersion and demands for narrative closure, with lower audience scores potentially reflecting discomfort with the film's causal realism—portraying poverty's dehumanizing effects without resolution—over politically sanitized narratives. Debates also touch on ethical concerns with performances, given the use of mostly untrained local kids portraying bordering on delinquency; while lauded for authenticity, some question whether such roles expose minors to trauma without safeguards, though no verified incidents of harm have surfaced. Overall, reveals a film that provokes reflection on proximity to —motels mere miles from theme parks—yet divides on whether it illuminates empirical realities of American life or indulges in observational detachment.

Awards, Rankings, and Legacy

earned widespread recognition in awards circuits, particularly for 's portrayal of the motel manager Bobby Hicks, which secured an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 2018. The film also received a Golden Globe nomination in the same category, along with nods from the and for Dafoe's performance.
Award OrganizationCategoryNomineeResult
(2018)Nominated
(2018) – Motion PictureNominated
(2018)Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated
(2018)Nominated
Critics' groups honored the film with additional accolades, including wins for Best Young Performer for Brooklynn Prince's debut role as Moonee at the Critics' Choice Awards. Overall, it accumulated 68 wins and 134 nominations across various festivals and organizations. In critical rankings, The Florida Project achieved a 96% approval rating on based on 318 reviews, with critics consensus praising its empathetic depiction of marginalized lives. It holds a Metacritic score of 92 out of 100 from 44 critics, signifying universal acclaim. The film ranked second among the top U.S. films of 2017 in 's year-end list. In 2025, placed it at number 74 in its poll of the 100 best films of the , voted by filmmakers and critics. The film's legacy endures through its influence on independent cinema's approach to poverty and childhood resilience, often cited for authentic casting of non-professional child actors and its unflinching yet vibrant portrayal of economic precarity near affluent tourist hubs. Director Sean Baker has noted its real-world impact, such as inspiring a full scholarship at Rollins College for child actor Christopher Rivera, highlighting its role in elevating discussions on social issues beyond screens. Its sustained critical reverence underscores a shift toward nuanced, non-exploitative narratives of American underclass life.

References

  1. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_florida_project
  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649144/
  3. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649144/awards/
  4. https://a24films.com/films/the-florida-project
  5. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649144/plotsummary/
  6. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_florida_project/cast-and-crew
  7. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649144/fullcredits/
  8. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-florida-project-2017
  9. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/movies/the-florida-project-review-sean-baker-willem-dafoe.html
  10. https://goldenglobes.com/film/florida-project-the/
  11. https://theindependentcritic.com/the_florida_project
  12. https://envelope.latimes.com/awards/titles/florida-project/
  13. https://www.screendaily.com/interviews/sean-baker-on-the-story-behind-the-florida-project-/5125160.article
  14. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/florida-project-movie-life-margins-eyes-children
  15. https://thecinemaholic.com/the-florida-project-magic-castle-real/
  16. https://variety.com/2017/politics/news/the-florida-project-sean-baker-homeless-1202595990/
  17. https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/interview-sean-baker-florida-project/
  18. https://filmmakermagazine.com/103243-its-a-small-world/
  19. https://theseventhart.org/sean-baker-interview-the-florida-project/
  20. https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/The_Florida_Project_Script.pdf
  21. https://deadline.com/2017/12/the-florida-project-alexis-zabe-cinematography-interview-news-1202224249/
  22. https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/visit-filming-locations-sean-bakers-the-florida-project/
  23. https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/florida-project-sean-baker-almost-lost-crew-avoids-disaster-1201884419/
  24. https://theintercept.com/2017/10/19/florida-project-movie-sean-baker-poverty/
  25. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/nwe-film-shows-poverty-struggle-shadow-of-disney-world/4086369.html
  26. https://sojo.net/articles/culture-opinion/director-florida-project-poverty-isn-t-just-florida-problem
  27. https://seventh-row.com/2017/12/07/the-florida-project/
  28. https://www.awardsdaily.com/2017/11/16/interview-sean-baker-making-florida-project/
  29. https://collider.com/sean-baker-the-florida-project-interview/
  30. https://www.rookiemag.com/2017/10/florida-project/
  31. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US1236950-kissimmee-fl/
  32. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/kissimmee-fl/
  33. https://fathersonholygore.com/2018/01/13/the-florida-project-decadence-and-disney/
  34. https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2019/feature-articles/american-utopia-socio-economic-critique-and-utopia-in-american-honey-and-the-florida-project/
  35. https://datausa.io/profile/geo/osceola-county-west-kissimmee-puma-fl?redirect=true
  36. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2583&context=honorstheses
  37. https://mpmacting.com/blog/2018/1/28/the-florida-project-a-review
  38. https://www.sic-journal.org/Article/Index/531
  39. https://deadline.com/2017/05/a24-sean-baker-florida-project-cannes-1202099568/
  40. https://variety.com/2017/film/markets-festivals/sean-baker-cannes-1202445906/
  41. https://deadline.com/2017/06/the-florida-project-sean-baker-cannes-title-opens-october-2017-1202111700/
  42. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5649144/companycredits/
  43. https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Florida-Project-The
  44. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3003352577/
  45. https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-florida-project/
  46. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/09/the-florida-project-review-sean-baker-walt-disney-world
  47. https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-florida-project-review-1202439902/
  48. https://dmillef.wixsite.com/media-criticism/the-florida-project
  49. https://timotheories.com/2018/02/28/passion-project-the-florida-project-review/
  50. https://projectonfamilyhomelessness.org/2017/11/21/the-florida-project-homelessness-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow/
  51. https://blog.uclfilm.com/archive/blog/debating-ending-florida-project/index.html
  52. https://mdcthereporter.com/the-florida-project-offers-realistic-portrayal-of-poverty/
  53. https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueFilm/comments/83dgyb/im_a_cinephile_and_im_pretty_sure_the_florida/
  54. https://cinemayward.com/review/the-florida-project/
  55. https://www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2017/10/06/florida-project-rare-perspective-american-poverty/
  56. https://www.afi.com/news/afi-movie-club-the-florida-project/
  57. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/21/the-50-top-films-of-2017-in-the-us-no-2-the-florida-project
  58. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/movies/best-movies-21st-century.html
  59. https://screenwritingfromiowa.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/filmmaker-sean-baker-on-the-true-success-of-the-florida-project/
  60. https://nofilmschool.com/best-films-of-the-21st-century-new-york-times
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.