If you've never heard of this movie, i'm not surprised. It would be a challenge to market a movie like this from a big budget studio. but that doesn't make it a bad film. Luckily, A24 releases indies films that would otherwise struggle in the business.
The film is about a mischievious young girl named Moonee, and her mother as they struggle to get by while living at a motel near DisneyWorld. The film features great performances from all of it's actors, the child ones especially. They all give it a very organic feel, seeming not just like characters but real people. This is also helped by how the film used very little well known actors.
A major turnoff for most people though would probably be the lack of a central plot. The film is mostly segments of the different characters milling around over one summer. While I felt it worked in this case to help build characters up and develop them, others might feel bored by it. Sort of like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The film is beautifully shot. Showing bright colors and landscapes, while also showing how harsh it can be at the same time. The whole plot is all seen through the eyes of child, and how she creates her own adventures, oblivious to the grim, poverty-stricken reality that she lives in. One of the few films i've seen to shed a realistic light on these issues.
I also enjoyed how the film used DisneyWorld in it's setting. Having the fireworks go off and people watching from outside the park. It almost made it seem like a dream, an far away place, where maybe the world feels a little bit brighter. The ending was beautiful. Just when you think you know how it's going to end, it switches. Maybe Moonee was taken away, or maybe she really did run off to a happier place. Maybe we know the answer, and maybe we just don't want to believe it.
The film is about a mischievious young girl named Moonee, and her mother as they struggle to get by while living at a motel near DisneyWorld. The film features great performances from all of it's actors, the child ones especially. They all give it a very organic feel, seeming not just like characters but real people. This is also helped by how the film used very little well known actors.
A major turnoff for most people though would probably be the lack of a central plot. The film is mostly segments of the different characters milling around over one summer. While I felt it worked in this case to help build characters up and develop them, others might feel bored by it. Sort of like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The film is beautifully shot. Showing bright colors and landscapes, while also showing how harsh it can be at the same time. The whole plot is all seen through the eyes of child, and how she creates her own adventures, oblivious to the grim, poverty-stricken reality that she lives in. One of the few films i've seen to shed a realistic light on these issues.
I also enjoyed how the film used DisneyWorld in it's setting. Having the fireworks go off and people watching from outside the park. It almost made it seem like a dream, an far away place, where maybe the world feels a little bit brighter. The ending was beautiful. Just when you think you know how it's going to end, it switches. Maybe Moonee was taken away, or maybe she really did run off to a happier place. Maybe we know the answer, and maybe we just don't want to believe it.