A vivid, heartbreaking portrait of childhood at the edge of precarity, shot with warmth, patience, and an eye for the small miracles of everyday life. It balances wonder and social realism so well that the emotional sting lands even harder.
The Florida Project
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama
Fri · 1h 52m
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe
Overview
The story of a precocious six year-old and her ragtag group of friends whose summer break is filled with childhood wonder, possibility and a sense of adventure while the adults around them struggle with hard times.
Director
Sean Baker
Cast
Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe
Curator Review
Verdict
A vivid, heartbreaking portrait of childhood at the edge of precarity, shot with warmth, patience, and an eye for the small miracles of everyday life. It balances wonder and social realism so well that the emotional sting lands even harder.
Best for
Viewers who like humanistic indie dramas
Fans of films about childhood seen from a child’s-eye perspective
People drawn to stories about poverty without melodrama
Audiences who appreciate naturalistic performances and location texture
Skip if
You want a conventional plot with clear turning points
You prefer uplifting stories that avoid bleak adult realities
You dislike films that are observational and emotionally understated
You need a tidy ending or strong narrative catharsis
Overview
Sean Baker finds extraordinary tenderness in the margins of everyday life, following a six-year-old whose summer feels like a game even as the adults around her are barely holding things together. The film’s power comes from that contrast: bright colors, playful mischief, and childlike imagination set against a world of instability, eviction anxiety, and economic fragility.
Worth noting
What makes it so affecting is how carefully it observes behavior without turning anyone into a symbol. The children feel gloriously alive, and the adults are written with enough complexity to avoid easy judgment. Willem Dafoe gives the film a grounded moral center, but the movie never loses sight of the kid-sized universe at its heart.
Bottom line
It’s funny, messy, and deeply sad in ways that sneak up on you. The ending is especially devastating because it refuses to flatten the experience into sentimentality; instead, it leaves you with the ache of seeing childhood and hardship occupy the same frame.
Top Letterboxd reviews
ciara (4.5★) · 42201 likes
this is the first time willem dafoe has not looked like the human embodiment of evil he was truly willem dafriend in this
demi adejuyigbe (5★) · 24468 likes
“You know why this is my favorite tree? Because it tipped over, and it’s still growing.”
kayla (5★) · 12246 likes
There isn’t a more accurate portrayal of children in film
tru (4.5★) · 9773 likes
How did they get in the park though?
tamar (4★) · 8125 likes
the grand budapest motel
Themes
childhood innocence, poverty and precarity, summer coming-of-age, parenthood under stress, community and found family, social realism, imagination as escape, marginalized lives
Topics
indie drama, coming-of-age, social realism, childhood perspective, Florida setting, economic hardship, slice of life, emotional, naturalistic, neo-realist