This film is part of Rentals
The Florida Project
Tangerine director Sean Baker presents another visionary take on the wild ups and dangerous downs of life in America’s underbelly, featuring an Oscar-nominated turn from Willem Dafoe.
Director: Sean Baker
Overview
Sean Baker’s magical, magnificent and madcap follow-up to Tangerine, set against the backdrop of America’s failed economy. Six-year-old Moonee (the astonishingly good Brooklynn Kimberly Prince) lives with her mother and other castaways from the American dream in a candy-floss-coloured roadside motel in Orlando. Disney World is just up the road, but their budget dayglow home is no plush hotel resort. Halley, Moonee’s mother, is only just an adult herself. More of an incorrigible older sister than a parent, she gets a kick out of juvenile hijinks, with utter disregard for their consequences. Meanwhile, nothing stops her daughter’s irrepressible sense of adventure; always unsupervised, Moonee roams the grounds with her gang, hustling change for ice creams, hosting spitting contests and teasing tolerant motel manager Bobby (a sublime, Oscar-nominated Willem Dafoe) to distraction.
The genius of Baker’s film is how it runs along two parallel tracks. Narrated from a child’s-eye view, this is a marvellous world of play and possibility. But adult viewers witnessing Halley’s life will suspect what’s coming for Moonee. That this dazzling, precocious girl is a lightning rod of wayward charm makes the inevitable so much harder to bear. The Florida Project is an ingenious, instant classic about childhood innocence.
Related
Green Border Green Border
Drama 2023 152 mins
Three-time Oscar-nominee Agnieszka Holland returns with a powerful, timely and unflinching exploration of the current migrant crisis.
A House in Jerusalem A House in Jerusalem
Drama 2022 104 mins Director: Muayad Alayan
After moving from the UK to Jerusalem, young Rebecca strikes up a mysterious and an unlikely friendship, in this poignant tale of loss and longing.
Kidnapped Kidnapped
Historical drama 2023 134 mins Director: Marco Bellocchio
This enthralling Italian historical drama depicts the kidnapping of a young Jewish boy, who is then sent to the Vatican to be converted to Christianity.
Birthday Girl Birthday Girl
Drama 2023 95 mins Director: Michael Noer
Heart-pounding Danish drama about a mother’s desperate attempts to unmask her daughter’s attacker on board a cruise ship.
Hoard Hoard
Drama 2023 126 mins Director: Luna Carmoon
A young woman journeys through childhood trauma and emerging sexuality in this staggering drama from an exciting new voice in British cinema.
Mysterious Ways Mysterious Ways
Drama 2023 90 mins Director: Paul Oremland
Paul Oremland’s impassioned drama is a searing critique of the church’s attitude towards the LGBTQI+ community.
Gone Too Far! Gone Too Far!
Comedy 2014 88 mins Director: Destiny Ekaragha
Riotous urban comedy adapted from the hit Royal Court play, about a Peckham teen affronted by the arrival of his long-lost Nigerian sibling.
Fahrenheit 11/9 Fahrenheit 11/9
Documentary 2018 128 mins Director: Michael Moore
Michael Moore paints a fiery portrait of life in Trump’s America. Populist, provocative and piercingly captivating, this is Moore’s clarion call to action.
First Man First Man
Drama 2018 141 mins Director: Damien Chazelle
Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong in this powerful and sometimes petrifying biopic from the director of La La Land.
Snowpiercer Snowpiercer
Science Fiction 2013 126 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
After a global catastrophe launches the world into a new ice age, the last of humanity are trapped on a high-speed train that circles the globe infinitely.
Snowpiercer Snowpiercer
Science Fiction 2013 126 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
After a global catastrophe launches the world into a new ice age, the last of humanity are trapped on a high-speed train that circles the globe infinitely.
Lynn + Lucy Lynn + Lucy
Drama 2019 88 mins Director: Fyzal Boulifa
A lifelong friendship is tested by tragedy in this atmospheric and intense first feature from acclaimed British shorts director Fyzal Boulifa.
River River
Documentary 2021 75 mins Director: Jennifer Peedom
A profound cinematic and musical reflection on how rivers have shaped both the planet’s elaborate landscapes and all human existence.
American Psycho American Psycho
Drama 2000 102 mins Director: Mary Harron
Christian Bale slays his competition in this chilling satire set in ‘80s Wall Street.
Green Border Green Border
Drama 2023 152 mins
Three-time Oscar-nominee Agnieszka Holland returns with a powerful, timely and unflinching exploration of the current migrant crisis.
Our River... Our Sky Our River... Our Sky
War 2021 118 mins Director: Maysoon Pachachi
A small Baghdad community searches for hope in the face of unpredictable violence, turmoil, and loss.
Love Lies Bleeding Love Lies Bleeding
Romance 2023 104 mins Director: Rose Glass
Rose Glass’s gripping and gory follow-up to Saint Maud finds a lesbian couple drawn into a web of violence in 1980s small-town New Mexico.
Sick of Myself Sick of Myself
Comedy 2022 97 mins Director: Kristoffer Borgli
She just did what! Attention-seeking Signe will do anything to keep the focus on herself, in this wildly demented comedy.
Wilding Wilding
Documentary 2023 75 mins Director: David Allen
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.
A House in Jerusalem A House in Jerusalem
Drama 2022 104 mins Director: Muayad Alayan
After moving from the UK to Jerusalem, young Rebecca strikes up a mysterious and an unlikely friendship, in this poignant tale of loss and longing.