It may have taken Sean Baker six films to finally burst into the mainstream, but The Florida Project was as perfect a mission statement as you could hope for. Smuggling hard-hitting social commentary under the guise of a bright and breezy coming-of-age story, it earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Willem Dafoe and cemented Baker as one of the most distinctive voices of modern independent cinema.

On the surface, it's a simple story, but it's also a deceptively subtle depiction of poverty in modern America. Baker establishes his world quickly and vividly, immersing us in the world of cheap motels that surround Walt Disney World, Florida. The luridly painted, rundown buildings – with kitschy names like The Magic Castle and Futureland – sit in stark contrast to the idyllic dreamland just down the road. Living in one such motel is six-year-old Moonee (Brooklyn Kimberly Prince) and her out-of-work mother Halley (Bria Vinaite). The pair drift through a seemingly carefree but precarious existence; Moonee running wild with her friends Scooty (Christopher Rivera) and Jancey (Valeria Cotto), Halley partying with neighbours, while the motel's weary manager Bobby (Dafoe) struggles to maintain order. Gradually, the bright, saturated colours give way to something darker, as the harsh economic reality creeps in.

As with every Sean Baker film, it's difficult to categorise The Florida Project. It's at once a playful coming-of-age story, a tragic socio-realist drama, and a quietly excoriating critique of the economic systems that trap people in cycles of poverty. Halley effectively embodies Terry Pratchett's “boots theory” where the poor end up paying more precisely because they're poor. She's impulsive, abrasive, and self-destructive, yet Vinaite's magnetic performance makes her fierce love for Moonee feel utterly genuine. The film itself walks a fine line, never judging Halley, but never excusing her behaviour. Meanwhile Prince gives a startlingly natural performance, more than holding her own against the adult performers. She makes Moonee mischievous, imaginative, and heartbreakingly endearing.

Dafoe might be the only famous face in the cast, but fits in effortlessly, and gives what might be the most humane performance of his career (which isn't necessarily saying much given his predominantly villainous back catalogue!). Bobby's quiet decency feels positively heroic compared to the apathy that surrounds him – he is clearly protective towards Halley, and his scenes with the children are filled with genuine warmth and humour, as he gently berates them for playing around him, hiding under his desk and piling abuse on him.

Shot on 35mm by Alexis Zabe, the film looks incredible, with an exaggerated, saturated palette and low camera angles that tells the story from a child's perspective. The motels and neighbouring buildings loom like fairy-tale castles, creating a distorted mirror image of Walt Disney World itself. This release from Second Sight only heightens this contrast, making the colours pop with a vitality that belies the darkness beneath the surface.

What makes The Florida Project so affecting is the way Baker's tone shifts almost imperceptibly from a loose, carefree story infused with childlike innocence into something more deliberate and tragic. Baker would revisit this tone shift even more adroitly in later films, but the world of something like Anora is so steeped in corruption and cynicism that as bleak as it gets, we are at least primed for it. There is genuine warmth and pathos in The Florida Project, which Baker captures in fleeting moments – a hug from a laundry worker, Moonee silently pulling Jancey's arm round her, Halley treating her daughter to an expensive breakfast. It's these small, poignant acts of kindness that make the film's descent into reality almost unbearable.

The Florida Project is a genuine modern masterpiece. It's both heartwarming and crushing, showing how people find resilience in humour and fantasy, keeping the grim reality at bay. What endures most is Baker's empathy. His depiction of America's marginalised communities is compassionate, and resolutely unsentimental, without ever being misanthropic or patronising, and avoiding any kind of poverty tourism. His characters are strong-willed and humane, and never reduced to archetypes. It all culminates in that controversial, dream-like moment of innocent escapism before the system swallows Moonee whole. It's both exhilarating and heartbreaking, a combination that captures everything that makes Baker's films so vital.

4K Ultra HD Special Features

New audio commentary with Sean Baker, Co-Writer Chris Bergoch and Director of Photography Alexis Zabé
New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and Martyn Conterio
Success Story: a new interview with Sean Baker
Playing Within the Frame: a new interview with Actor Willem Dafoe
A Transformative Experience: a new interview with Actor Bria Vinaite
The Kids: a new interview with Actors Brooklynn Kimberly Prince, Valeria Cotto and Christopher Rivera
Origin Story: a new interview with Actor Brooklynn Kimberly Prince
True Friendship: a new interview with Actor Valeria Cotto
Overusing Freedom: a new interview with Actor Christopher Rivera
Embrace the Chaos: a new interview with Co-writer Chris Bergoch
Clearing the Brush: a new interview with Producer Andrew Duncan
A Different Way of Shooting: a new interview with Producers Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri
A Sense of Imagination: a new interview with Associate Producer Samantha Quan
Hotel to Home: a new interview with Executive Director of Community Hope Center Rev. Mary Downey
Streets of 192: a new interview with Casting Coordinator Patti Wiley
Back to the Castle: On location with Brooklynn Kimberly Prince, Valeria Cotto and Christopher Rivera
Wretched Splendour: Rohan Spong on The Florida Project
Under the Rainbow: Making The Florida Project
Archive Cast & Crew Interviews
Bloopers & Outtakes