The Florida Project

A24 | Release Date: October 6, 2017

7.4	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 380 Ratings

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User Reviews

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ojotutMar 15, 2018

The acting is realistic...too realistic. That is the only positive thing I see in the movie. The story line is a depressing look at the desperate misspent life of a young single mother and her child daughter. It is a case of a rebellious,The acting is realistic...too realistic. That is the only positive thing I see in the movie. The story line is a depressing look at the desperate misspent life of a young single mother and her child daughter. It is a case of a rebellious, lying, foul-mouthed adult-child, raising a child who is quickly becoming, rebellious, lying, and foul-mouthed. The young mother spirals more and more out of control as the movie goes nowhere. There is no hope or redemption, just the dark picture of what life is really like for a young woman who is on the wrong side of life. She is a curse to herself, society and to her unfortunate child. Watching the movie is a complete waste of two hours of life.… Expand

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

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HealingToolboxMar 19, 2018

A CHILD'S GARDEN OF HORRORS - FOR ADULTS ONLY - R-RATED BY ME Not for kids not for family viewing. The childhood horrors here include:
- Kids in abject poverty
- Orphaned kids - Absent fathers - Absent mothers - Emotionally absent mothers -A CHILD'S GARDEN OF HORRORS - FOR ADULTS ONLY - R-RATED BY ME Not for kids not for family viewing. The childhood horrors here include:
- Kids in abject poverty
- Orphaned kids
- Absent fathers
- Absent mothers
- Emotionally absent mothers
- Potential pedophiles
- Kids with matches and empty real estate
- 100% junk food diets
- Casual adult nudity (minor)
- Kids in proximity to adult prostitution

I became interested in the movie after haring the director on KCRW The Business podcast. he is aware of the Hal Roach Our Gang comedies. However he uses the candid naturalism of Our Gang in teh service of a CHILD'S GARDEN OF HORRORS. Anyone who has worked as a K-5 school teacher will be horrified and understand kids with this kind of early bio are very challenged to overcome it after puberty strikes. Sadly, this is high artistic talent, a colorful palette, and better-than-deserved performances in the service of HORROR STORIES ABOUT MODERN CHILDHOOD.… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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HobocritNov 11, 2017

This was the most unpleasant movie I’ve seen in recent history. I don’t understand why so many reviews rave. Granted Willem Dafoe’s performance is outstanding and the cinematography was highly creative. The rest of the movie was abrasive toThis was the most unpleasant movie I’ve seen in recent history. I don’t understand why so many reviews rave. Granted Willem Dafoe’s performance is outstanding and the cinematography was highly creative. The rest of the movie was abrasive to say the least. If you enjoy watching an unlikeable, emotionally damaged ( I stopped just short of saying pyschopathic) young mother raising an equally unlikeable, damaged brat daughter, then you might enjoy this movie. The climax (anti-climax really) was predictable and should’ve come within the first 10 minutes. Instead we are subjected to a boring and really irritating non-plot for almost two hours watching bratty, hateful children and the whacked out mother day after day. Because the reviews were so great I kept waiting for something to happen. Trust me nothing happens. You can watch this movie for a few minutes and you’ve got the whole idea. Poverty and slums juxtaposed against “the happiest place on earth” - I get it.… Expand

8 of 21 users found this helpful813

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zorraDec 12, 2017

A film which can led one into liking because of the kids. The visuals are beautiful and a great performance from Dafoe. Everything else just felt contrived, manipulative & tacky. Glorifying poverty & wayward behavior The ending was predictable.

3 of 10 users found this helpful37

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GreatMartinOct 20, 2017

A review in one word AWFUL! But since when do I use one word when I can use 10?!

To quote Allen, "Thor would have to be better than this!" I came home and read the reviews by A. O. Scott of the NY Times, Douglas Markowitz of New Times,A review in one word AWFUL! But since when do I use one word when I can use 10?!

To quote Allen, "Thor would have to be better than this!"

I came home and read the reviews by A. O. Scott of the NY Times, Douglas Markowitz of New Times, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune and Peter Travers, all who raved about the movie! Did they see the same movie I did? Or don't they know about the seedy strip not to far from DisneyWorld? (I did learn from a review that The Florida Project was the name for DisneyWorld in its planning stages!) Or are they unaware of the 'hidden homeless' in the United States?

As I use 10 words when I can use one director and co-writer Sean Baker, with Chris Bergoch, uses 5 scenes when 1 tells the same thing. There is no faulting the acting which includes William Dafoe as the manager of the purple motel where 22-year-old single mother Halley, played by Bria Vinate, and her 6-year-old daughter Moonie, played by 6-year-old Brooklynn Prince, live. Moonie's friends Scooty, played by Christopher Rivera, and Jancey, played by Valeria Cotto, among others are typical kids doing things, both bad and good, kids do and are mostly natural in their scenes.

After a very boring, 'where is this film going' 1hour and 50 minutes, we finally get the payoff in the last 5 minutes and all I can say is save your money and use your time for something else or go see a good movie like "Marshall" or "Professor Marston and his Wonder Women".… Expand

4 of 18 users found this helpful414

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LesfromSanDiegoOct 27, 2017

Complete waste of time and money. Spoiler alert: the is no ending. Cute kid but not redeeming points.really wanted something you make it worth watching but nothing happens.

5 of 24 users found this helpful519

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JAQNov 26, 2017

Tediously annoying to sit thru. This filmmaker seems to think it's his job to whitemansplain what trans latina sex workers and poor homeless women/girls are like, and manages to present them as just a bunch of thoroughly unlikeable **** AndTediously annoying to sit thru. This filmmaker seems to think it's his job to whitemansplain what trans latina sex workers and poor homeless women/girls are like, and manages to present them as just a bunch of thoroughly unlikeable **** And he doesn't seem to know what a plot is, thinking that cutting together a bunch of quick snippets of footage is enough.… Expand

2 of 13 users found this helpful211

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PHIL_Apr 8, 2018

Literally, nothing happens and nothing is interesting. The set pieces may be realistic, but it does not prevent The Florida Project from being a completely boring ad predictable observation of something we already know: 0/10

1 of 17 users found this helpful116

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mooneeeeeJun 29, 2020

i really don’t like this movie. i love A24 films but this just disappoints me. the movie completely glorifies poverty and living in a **** motel for a single mother who can hardly pay rent each month. the children run around for 2 hours andi really don’t like this movie. i love A24 films but this just disappoints me. the movie completely glorifies poverty and living in a **** motel for a single mother who can hardly pay rent each month. the children run around for 2 hours and NOTHING. HAPPENS. it is SO boring to watch and i would recommend skipping this A24 film. yes the colors are pastel and pretty but the movie is just not great.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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FaithSolMar 10, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Willem Dafoe was the only reason I could sit through this. I was shocked that there were no reviews anywhere online exposing the disgusting nature of this film. All these strange scenes that seem to be for no reason: there is a reason, it's pedophile porn. Kids spitting gratuitously, licking and sharing ice cream multiple times, watching topless women, twerking to music, scantily clad woman juxtaposing the children in nearly every scene (including a bathing suit scene with the little girl), so many scenes of the children wandering around alone, unprotected, 3 different scenes of the same girl in the bathtub, 2 scenes zooming in on girls in wet t-shirts, repeatedly licking jelly toast and an extended scene of the little girl enjoying food really up close, zooming in on children's crotches/legs on the seesaw... It was too many to count after a certain point. It was extremely uncomfortable to watch these shots, and the one scene of Dafoe reprimanding a pedophile does not justify the overt "subliminal" sexual exploitation of these child actors in almost every scene. Also note that the boy characters are erased very quickly to leave the two girls even more alone and unprotected as they wander in dangerous areas. It is literally a pedophile's dream. As someone who has been sexually abused, at first, I thought I was just uncomfortable because of my own fears and trauma. After watching, I immediately had to search out who was in charge of this, and if anyone else has called this out. I sincerely hope people understand that this movie director, cinematographer, someone involved in this production knew exactly what these shots were for, and others looked the other way for the sake of the realism and rawness of the film. It does a great job of showing the darkness of poverty, in a very realistic way. Unfortunately, it's lost in the mess of kiddie-porn-like shots.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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