The purple walls and motel name betray that it once sought to attract guests who were visiting the nearby mega amusement park Disney World. But nowadays, Magic Castle mostly houses families who can’t make rent and are on the verge of homelessness. The American indie film The Florida Project offers a bright depiction of this harrowing reality.
By this we mean that it does not descend into drab wretchedness. The colours splash off the screen and the beautiful, sunny film will revitalize you faster than a cure at an expensive spa.
The worst of the misery stays in the background because the film focuses on the young children who don’t need Disney World to turn the summer into an unforgettable adventure. They rely on their own imagination, their delight in mischief, and the freedom to horse around on car parks, abandoned motels, and other wasteland.
Willem Dafoe is excellent as the kindly motel manager but the real sensations of the film are six-year-old Brooklynn Prince and Bria Vinaite, who plays her single mother. Ken Loach but in aestheticized technicolour: all the more enjoyable.
> US, dir.: Sean Baker, act.: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe
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