It's an incredible disservice knowing that The Florida Project didn't recieve a Best Picture nomination as it is one of the most profoundly poignant, realistic, and most of all, meaningful movies to come out of 2017. When it comes to a story such as the one depicted in this movie, space wizards and superheroes can't even hold a candle to the type of realistic and unpredictable drama unfolding on screen. The Florida Project is truly a film that shows the everyday life of a community of people trying to get by without sugarcoating any of it. Underneath the eye-popping scenery of Orlando, Florida, not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. What the film does a fantastic job of doing is showing us this community through the viewpoint of these youthful kids, who are still in awe of experiencing childhood, despite whatever's going on in their environment. The performances from the kids, especially Brooklynn Prince as Moonie, are undeniably fantastic as well as the older cast, including Bria Vinaite as the mother and the always outstanding Willem Dafoe as the hotel manager. From Willem Dafoe's character trying to keep things intact at the hotel to Moonie and her friends constantly causing trouble, you find yourself instantly absorbed into this story and the lives of these characters because it doesn't feel like you're simply watching a movie or watching characters. These feel like real human beings dealing with real human situations and hardships. A the end of the day, it's movies and stories like these that seriously inspire me to make smaller movies that don't rely on special effects or action sequences to convey a compelling narrative that sinks deeply into the human spirit even long after the film is over. Grounded human drama mixed in with natural humor, engrossing performances, and characters that feel like more than just characters are what truly make a difference thematically and emotionally. Please, do yourself a favor and see The Florida Project. I'm giving it an extremely high standing ovation. Don't just rent this movie. Buy it. It's worth adding to the collection if you love great movies.

My Grade: A+