The Florida Project, deep America in its purest form

VIDEO : The Florida Project | Official Trailer HD | A24

Magic Castle. This place could make more than one dream and yet its daily life has absolutely nothing magical about it. Located in a suburb near Disney World, this Florida motel is far from being the Happiest place on earth so often claimed by the theme park. Moonee, for her part, recklessly leads her life there.

A life punctuated by unethical activities that she does unreasonably with her friends, out of sight of her very young and idle mother Halley, who struggles painfully to get by. At the antipodes of a story of fairy tales, the six-year-old girl with a strong character suffers the consequences of the status of neglected and forgotten from which the inhabitants of this district suffer.

If this fiction skillfully reflects a sad reality, Sean Baker remains faithful to his artistic touch and never reduces his cinematographic works to lethargic and sanitized melodramas. On the contrary, it is through sumptuous photography in pastel and colorful tones, in an atmosphere where gentleness, humor and empathy mingle that the director brings his protagonists to life.

Carried by a troubling and singular cast – including the admirable Willem Dafoe who plays Bobby, the benevolent manager of the motel with whom Moonee befriends – the film brilliantly underlines the paradox between a deprived and lonely America and the still naive gaze of a carefree and spontaneous young child.