Sean Baker’s The Florida Project was the object of a fierce bidding war at Cannes earlier this year, with A24 winning the rights to distribute the film. Now the rest of us have a chance to see whether The Florida Project might live up to the hype with the first trailer. Baker’s previous project, Tangerine, was a moving examination of two transgender prostitutes, and his new film also focuses on another marginalized group of people—in this case, a group of mischievous homeless kids who are living week to week at budget hotels near Disney World.
Baker co-wrote the script with his Tangerine collaborator Chris Bergoch, but unlike Tangerine, The Florida Project was filmed in 35mm, rather than on an iPhone. The Florida Project stars newcomer Brooklynn Prince as the young girl Moonee and Bria Vinaite, who Baker found through her Instagram fame, as her mother, who becomes increasingly desperate to support herself and her daughter. Willem Dafoe, the only big name in the cast, plays Bobby, the strict-but-kind manager of the Magic Castle motel. The film received glowing reviews at Cannes, with critics singling out Prince’s performance and Vulture’s Emily Yoshida calling the movie as a whole “a near-perfect film.”
As the distributor behind Moonlight, A24 has good reason to bet on a film about Florida outsiders, and the Oscar buzz for The Florida Project has already begun. The film will have a limited release in theaters on Oct. 6.
