--- title: "The Florida Project: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-florida-project/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-florida-project" critics_score: 87 critics_reviews: 19 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Florida Project (2017): what the critics said Critics' score 87 from 19 reviews: 17 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Sean Baker’s portrait of childhood amid motel poverty, praising its humour and compassion without suggesting that it softens the hardship. Praise clusters around the natural performances, particularly Brooklynn Prince and the other children, with Willem Dafoe’s patient motel manager providing a steady adult presence. The bright colours and child’s-eye storytelling also draw approval: the reviews find room for adventure and mischief while keeping the adults’ precarious lives in view. Reservations mostly concern the loose structure, though a small minority question the film’s honesty more fundamentally. The Hollywood Reporter finds it overlong and short of sustained narrative drive; The Independent notes that the vignettes risk repetition. The sharper dissent comes from The New Yorker, which finds the sympathy artificial, and Film Comment, which sees too little depth in the characters’ motivations. These objections stand apart from a consensus that largely finds Baker observant and non-judgemental. ## Radio Times — Trevor Johnston Rating 5/5. The critic calls it a modern classic with strong echoes of Ken Loach, praising its empathy, sharp observation, and natural performances. It highlights the compelling tension between children's innocent mischief and the adults' desperate struggles, culminating in an emotionally intense finale. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-35vyba/the-florida-project/) ## The Independent Rating ★★★★★. 9 November 2017. The Florida Project is one of the best recent films about childhood, an antithesis to Disney movies set near Walt Disney World. Baker captures vibrant colours and resilient young characters amid poverty, with remarkable performances from the non-professional cast, though the vignette structure risks repetition late on. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/film-reviews-roundup-the-florida-project-only-the-brave-kaleidoscope-marjorie-prime-a8045921.html) ## The i Paper — Matthew Turner Rating ★★★★★. 10 November 2017. Baker creates a vivid, vibrant world of poverty-line families near Disney World, with exceptional direction, editing and award-worthy performances from the young leads and Willem Dafoe. It is an Oscar outsider that could surprise, empathic yet unflinching about economic realities. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/florida-project-film-review-103025) ## The Telegraph Rating 5/5. 9 November 2017. Baker turns a roadside motel into the most vivid location in recent movies with a visually stunning achievement that absolutely sings. Willem Dafoe delivers one of his best performances as the long-suffering manager. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/florida-project-review-hysterically-rude-visually-stunning-cinematic/) ## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf Rating 5/5. 6 November 2017. The review lauds the film's vibrant compassion and energy in depicting marginal communities. It singles out Dafoe's rich, lovable performance as the motel manager who anchors the story with quiet empathy and grandeur. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-florida-project) ## Empire — Helen O'Hara Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 November 2017. Baker maintains his focus on overlooked lives in a cheap Florida motel, drawing extraordinary performances from first-timers alongside Willem Dafoe while using vibrant pop vérité style. It is a moving, emotional masterpiece that is empathic towards its subjects but fiercely critical of the system. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/florida-project-review/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 16 January 2018. Sean Baker channels Ken Loach in this gobsmackingly funny, vivid and moving drama about a bolshy mum and her daughter on the fringes of Disney World. The film builds to a bodaciously bleak ending while celebrating the characters' resilience and imagination without demonising them. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-florida-project-review-an-irresistible-trip-down-route-192-a3711806.html) ## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 November 2017. Baker finds aghast freshness and pop-mythopoeic mileage in this funny, acerbic, warmly sprawling picture of low-rent dreams, with standout turns from newcomers Vinaite and Prince alongside Dafoe. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/40013d92-c491-11e7-a1d2-6786f39ef675) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Rating Critics Pick. 22 May 2017. Festival review. Baker follows up Tangerine with a vibrant tale of the American lower depths centered on the magic and heartbreak of childhood in an Orlando motel. The kingdom of fantasy never looked so desperately real in this absorbing story of hustling and survival. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/the-florida-project-review-1202439902/) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 November 2017. The exuberant, giddy film animates bankrupt lives in a discounted land with feral energy like its heroine, finding enchantments in the margins of America's moribund entertainment empire. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/film-review-the-florida-project-and-only-the-brave-josh-brolin-jdc5xwskv) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2017. The film is positioned as an antidote to helicopter parenting through its depiction of a young girl's natural leadership and imaginative play amid motel life, but it veers into artificial sympathy. It offers insightful moments on class indignities yet remains emotionally inauthentic under its realist guise. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-florida-project-is-the-cinematic-antidote-to-helicopter-parenting) ## Film Comment — Cassie da Costa Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2017. The film focuses on a young mother and her daughter living in a budget motel near Disney World, with the children's adventures contrasting the mother's struggles. The critic finds the portrayal of marginalized lives shallow and lacking depth in inner motivations. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-the-florida-project/) ## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang 5 October 2017. Baker delivers a raw, exuberant and captivating portrait of childhood through the irrepressible six-year-old Moonee and her life in a seedy motel. The result is a dazzling neorealist sugar rush and a masterpiece of empathy that assembles one of the most infectious portraits of childhood seen on screen. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-the-florida-project-review-20171005-story.html) ## Sight and Sound — Kate Stables 9 November 2017. The critic praises Baker's sympathetic, non-judgmental portrayal of childhood innocence amid hardship in a rundown motel near Disney World. It highlights the vivid, naturalistic performances (especially from the child actors and Dafoe) and the film's compassionate, observant eye on marginal lives. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-florida-project-paints-hardscrabble-wonderland-candy-colours) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez 10 September 2017. The critic highlights how the film invests the minutiae of down-and-out motel lives with bittersweet energy and significance through a child's present-tense point of view, praising the nimble direction, social contracts among characters, and thematic depth around transience and dreams. It notes some jarring moments but finds the overall approach remarkable. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-florida-project/) ## The Guardian 12 November 2017. The film is a superbly sympathetic, thrillingly vibrant portrait of marginalised lives that never feels like tourism from its director. It centres a child's sense of wonder amid the ironic contrast of rundown motels near Disney World. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/12/the-florida-project-review-sunshine-state-of-mind) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 23 May 2017. Festival review. The critic praises the vibrant, colorful portrayal of children's carefree adventures and strong performances by the young leads in this mosaic of life among the invisible homeless near Disney World. It notes the film is overlong and lacks sustained narrative drive compared to Baker's prior work. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/florida-project-cannes-2017-1006653/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating NYT Critic’s Pick. 5 October 2017. The film tells the story of a six-year-old girl living in a shabby motel near Disney World from dual perspectives, revealing both the joy in her free-range adventures and the underlying hardship. Baker avoids condescension or exploitation in portraying poverty, creating a risky and revelatory work. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/movies/the-florida-project-review-sean-baker-willem-dafoe.html) ## Vulture 5 October 2017. Festival review. The review calls the film brilliant, buoyant, and ultimately heart-wrenching, a near-perfect follow-up to Tangerine that immerses viewers in the setting through the anarchic whims of its young protagonists. It highlights the standout child performances, visual pop of the 35mm cinematography, and a stunning finale. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/cannes-2017-the-florida-project-review.html) ## Den of Geek — Simon Brew Rating 5/5. 10 November 2017. Baker's film divides audiences with its freeform story of struggling families at a budget motel near Disney World, centered on a young girl's perspective and her mother's desperate efforts. It is praised for strong performances, gripping characters, and effective tonal shifts. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-florida-project-review/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 10/10. 9 September 2017. Festival review. The critic hails the film as potentially the best of the year for its beautiful, empathetic look at children living near Disney World. They single out the authentic child performances and Willem Dafoe's kind motel manager as standout elements. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/the-florida-project-review-tiff-2017/) ## The Skinny — Joseph Walsh Rating 5/5. 9 November 2017. Baker delivers a vibrant, colorful, and heartbreaking slice-of-life story about a young girl and her struggling single mother living in motels near Disney World. The film is lauded for its honest portrayal of poverty, strong child performance, and tender handling of difficult themes. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-florida-project) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 4 October 2017. Sean Baker's film is a sublime piece of optimistic filmmaking that acknowledges pain without succumbing to it. It is a powerful, unassuming story of rare emotional depth, joy, and humanity set among children and struggling adults in budget motels near Disney World. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2017/10/film-review-the-florida-project/) ## The Wrap — Elizabeth Weitzman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 4 October 2017. The critic praises Sean Baker’s neorealist drama as a beautiful heartbreaker that exposes layers of privation beneath the colorful facade of motels near Disney World, following the resilient young Moonee and her struggling mother. They single out the extraordinary, natural child performance by Brooklynn Prince as one of the most noteworthy in recent memory, along with strong turns from Willem Dafoe and Bria Vinaite. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/the-florida-project-review-willem-dafoe-sean-baker/) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 May 2017. Festival review. The critic praises the film's warm, colorful depiction of childhood resilience in poverty, highlighting Brooklynn Prince's standout performance as Moonee. They single out the joyful, adventurous spirit of the children as a highlight. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/the-florida-project-review/) ## The Ringer — K. Austin Collins Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 October 2017. The Florida Project is a wondrously sad yet wonderful film largely shot from the perspective of kids, but undercut by adult realities. Baker's deceptively sunny indie captures a child's-eye view of a beautiful but precarious world with playful tone and emotional depth. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2017/10/07/movies/the-florida-project-film-review-sean-baker-willem-dafoe) ## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang Rating [A]. 23 May 2017. Festival review. The critic praises the film's blend of joy and heartbreak, focusing on the child's perspective amid poverty, with strong performances especially from the young lead. They single out the immersive, present-tense storytelling and humane portrayal of marginal lives. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/sean-bakers-boisterous-heartbreaking-florida-project-willem-dafoe-cannes-review-20170523/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-florida-project.md