Of All A24 Movies, This 96%-Rated Drama From Anora Director Is a True Masterpiece

Six months ago, it was hard to imagine how much we all needed Anora. It became a real miracle – indie director Sean Baker's film, without an A-list cast, won the Palme d'Or and six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Cannes jury president Greta Gerwig, a representative of the mumblecore movement, gave the top prize not to a debutant but to an experienced filmmaker. Since 2000, Sean Baker, who also films in the mumblecore genre, has been telling stories about the most vulnerable citizens in the language of equal dialog.

And perhaps his strongest work came before Anora – it was The Florida Project, which scored an impressive 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.

What Is The Florida Project About?

Halley is a young single mother who has failed to find herself. With no steady job and no special skills or talents, she ekes out a miserable existence scamming tourists at Disneyland and eating leftovers at a local diner.

The only thing that brightens Halley's dull life is her daughter Moonee, a lively six-year-old. Along with her equally small but cocky neighbors, Moonee terrorizes the local motel, where she and her mother have been forced to live due to a lack of housing options.

For reckless kids whose lives could hardly get any worse, there are no obstacles except for the stern motel manager, Bobby Hicks, who is their main mentor.

The Florida Project Is a Sincere Slice of Life on the Margins of Society

Baker does not set out to depict the horrors of a hopeless existence or the lack of prospects; his camera focuses on people whose nature is not determined by the size of their wallets.

There are no unambiguously positive characters in The Florida Project; everyone has problems, hardships, and everyone feels the fragility of their world. There are conflicts and even fights, but that is life here, outside the glittering Disneyland, on the fringes of life.

For the most part, The Florida Project does not even have a clear plot; it is a sketch of several days in the life of a motel.

We see random guests who have mixed up their reservations, or repairs being made to one of the rooms. The story behind all this is almost invisible, but the fabric of existence under difficult conditions is obvious.

Sean Baker Tells a Touching and Honest Story Through the Eyes of a Child

In The Florida Project, Baker lowers the camera to the eyes of a child and shows, from her perspective, a somewhat naive but bright and optimistic picture of the world of people who not only live in poverty, but survive every day.

Moonee is oblivious to the difficulties of her only parent: while her mother struggles to make ends meet, the girl revels in summer vacations. After all, when you're six, the main problem is finding change to buy the ice cream you love.

But the summer is coming to an end, and with it, the carefree childhood: ringing laughter gives way to loud sobs – this is adulthood nipping at Moonee's heels.