"The Florida Project" (2017)

This movie reminded me of one from several years ago, Cary Fukunaga’s “Sin Nombre.” Both are stories about the downtrodden who also happen to be the judged and feared. Both were art-house films that weren’t seen widely. And both do more than just offer an escapism based on watching people more unfortunate than oneself. They try, at least, to create empathy.

In “The Florida Project” we follow a little girl, Moonee, over the course of a summer. She lives in a motel with her single mother and spends her days running free around Orlando with friends. It is a slice-of-life more than story film. We see her get into trouble, scrape by on handouts and the little money her mom can scrape together selling perfume to tourists, and torment the motel manager.

The desperation and helpless hole that poverty traps people in is on full display here. And contrasted with the extravagance of the tourists it is even harder to watch. But Moonee manages to live a mostly oblivious childhood. Up until near the end, that is.

The best part of this hard-to-watch downer is Willem Dafoe’s motel manager. He is not so much better off than our main characters. But his compassion and concern for the people around him is inspiring. The little he can do he does, and such action is what the film seems to be calling the viewer to do.