Awards season is nigh, and headlines are already using “front-runner” and “Willem Dafoe” in the same breath. Dafoe has been lauded for showing his “softer side” as Bobby, a kind but no-bullshit manager of a budget hotel in Sean Baker’s latest indie gem, The Florida Project. The Oscar buzz is understandable—Dafoe is an acting wizard—but the real reason The Florida Project is a breakout success, and the reason everyone should see the film, is the rowdy, previously unknown seven-year-old actor Brooklynn Prince. (Full disclosure: Prince follows me on Twitter. Brooklynn, if you’re reading this, I apologize for how frequently I tweet about butts. You’ll understand in a decade or so.)
Moonee, played by Prince, is a mischievous tyrant who spends her days terrorizing the Orlando hotel she calls home. Like Baker’s Tangerine, the characters in The Florida Project don’t want anyone’s pity. Prostitution, drugs, arson, assault—it all goes down in the Magic Castle, the purple hotel (or project) where Moonee lives. But don’t call the place tragic. Moonee and her gang of kindergarteners will spit on anyone who gives off even the slightest patronizing vibe. The ragtag team roams the Magic Castle unsupervised, harassing patrons and guilting tourists into buying them ice cream.