Sean Baker did something weirdly magical with The Florida Project. He took the neon-soaked, budget-motel fringes of Disney World and turned it into a playground for a six-year-old girl named Moonee. It’s colorful. It's loud. It’s heartbreaking. Most movies about poverty feel like "misery porn," but Baker captured the specific, frantic energy of being a kid who doesn't realize their life is falling apart.
People search for movies like The Florida Project because they want that feeling back. That raw, unpolished, "is this a documentary or a movie?" vibe. You’re looking for stories that don’t sugarcoat the struggle but also don’t forget that humans—even those living in the "hidden homeless" sector—still laugh, prank each other, and find beauty in a melting ice cream cone.
Finding that balance is hard. A lot of indie films try to copy the aesthetic but miss the soul. If you’re ready to feel a lump in your throat while watching gorgeous cinematography, let’s get into the films that actually inhabit the same universe as Moonee and Bobby.
The Neon Realism of Sean Baker’s World
Before we look at other directors, we have to talk about Sean Baker’s own catalog. If you loved the saturated colors and the use of non-professional actors in The Florida Project, you have to go backward to Tangerine.
Shot entirely on three iPhone 5S smartphones, Tangerine follows two transgender sex workers across Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. It sounds heavy. It is. But like The Florida Project, it’s also fast-paced and surprisingly funny. It’s got that same "day in the life" structure where the plot is basically just people moving through a city that doesn't want them there.
Then there is Red Rocket. Released in 2021, it stars Simon Rex as a washed-up adult film star who returns to his small Texas hometown. It’s sleazy. It’s bright. It’s uncomfortable. It lacks the childhood innocence of Moonee, but it shares that specific "Magic Castle" motel grime. Baker has this knack for finding locations that feel like characters. In Texas, it’s the industrial refineries looming over residential streets; in Florida, it’s the knock-off souvenir shops shaped like giant oranges.
Andrea Arnold and the American Road Trip
If Sean Baker is the king of the "hidden homeless" narrative, Andrea Arnold is the queen of the "drifter" aesthetic. Her 2016 film American Honey is the closest spiritual sibling to The Florida Project you will ever find.
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Starring Sasha Lane (who was discovered on a beach, much like Bria Vinaite was found on Instagram for Baker’s film) and Shia LaBeouf, the movie follows a "mag crew." These are teenagers who travel across the Midwest selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door.
It’s long. Nearly three hours. But you don't care because the cinematography by Robbie Ryan is breathtaking. It’s shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio—just like the older TV screens—which makes the vast American landscapes feel strangely intimate and claustrophobic at the same time. The soundtrack is a character of its own, blasting Rihanna and E-40 as the van hurtles toward the next cheap motel.
Why does it feel like The Florida Project? Because it captures the "now." These kids have no future and no past. They only have the party happening in the van right now. It captures that reckless, beautiful, and terrifying lack of a safety net.
The Quiet Struggle in Nomadland and Leave No Trace
Sometimes you don’t want the neon. Sometimes you want the silence.
Nomadland won the Oscar for a reason. Chloé Zhao used real-life nomads—people like Linda May and Swankie—to play versions of themselves alongside Frances McDormand. It explores the "gig economy" version of the American Dream. It’s about people living in vans, following seasonal work at Amazon warehouses or campgrounds.
It’s less "bratty kid" energy and more "quiet dignity in the face of economic collapse."
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But if it’s the parent-child bond that broke your heart in The Florida Project, you need to watch Leave No Trace. Directed by Debra Granik (who also directed Winter's Bone), it follows a veteran with PTSD living off the grid in a public park in Portland with his daughter.
Unlike Halley in The Florida Project, the father here is hyper-competent at surviving. He isn't reckless; he’s careful. But the core conflict is the same: what happens when a parent’s lifestyle, however well-intentioned or survival-based, starts to harm the child’s ability to exist in the "real" world? It’s a quiet, devastating masterpiece.
International Echoes: Shoplifters and Capernaum
The struggle isn’t just an American thing. If you want movies like The Florida Project that take you outside the U.S. borders, look at Japan and Lebanon.
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters is basically the Japanese cousin of Baker’s work. It follows a "found family" that relies on petty theft to get by in Tokyo. There’s a scene involving a young girl being taken in by the family that will remind you so much of the kids at the Magic Castle. It asks the same question: what makes a family? Is it blood, or is it the people who actually see you?
Then there is Capernaum. This one is a tough watch.
Directed by Nadine Labaki, it stars Zain Al Rafeea, a Syrian refugee who was actually living in the slums of Beirut when he was cast. He plays a 12-year-old who sues his parents for the crime of giving him life. It is visceral. It is loud. It is shot on the streets with a handheld camera that makes you feel like you’re dodging traffic alongside him. If the ending of The Florida Project made you cry, Capernaum will leave you staring at a blank wall for an hour.
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Why We Are Obsessed With This Genre
There’s a term for this: "Social Realism."
But that sounds like a college lecture. Honestly, we watch these movies because they feel honest. Most Hollywood movies about being poor involve some secret inheritance or a rich person swooping in to save the day (the "Blind Side" trope). The Florida Project doesn't do that.
Bobby (Willem Dafoe) is a good guy, but he’s a motel manager, not a savior. He can’t pay Halley’s rent. He can only give her a few extra days or tell her to keep the noise down.
That nuance is what makes these films stick. We see the system failing in real-time. We see the Department of Children and Families (DCF) as both a "villain" that tears families apart and a "hero" that tries to keep kids safe. It’s messy. There are no easy answers.
The Best "Hidden Gem" Alternatives
If you've seen the big names, try these:
- Rocks (2019): A British film about a teenage girl in London trying to take care of her younger brother after their mother abandons them. It’s got that same vibrant, youthful energy.
- Gummo (1997): Warning: this is weird. Harmony Korine’s look at a poverty-stricken town in Ohio after a tornado. It’s much more experimental and "gross-out" than The Florida Project, but it shares the same DNA of looking at the parts of America we usually ignore.
- Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): This adds a layer of magical realism. Quvenzhané Wallis plays Hushpuppy, a girl living in a bayou community called "The Bathtub." It’s about survival, floods, and prehistoric creatures, but at its heart, it’s about a girl and her difficult father.
Practical Steps for Your Next Watch Party
If you’re planning a marathon of movies like The Florida Project, don't just pick them at random. They are emotionally taxing.
- Check the "Triggers": Most of these films deal with child neglect, addiction, or systemic poverty. If you're not in the headspace for that, maybe stick to something lighter.
- Watch the "Making Of" Features: For films like Tangerine and Nomadland, knowing how they were shot (often with non-actors and real people) adds a massive layer of appreciation for the craft.
- Support Indie Cinema: These movies don't make Marvel money. If you find a director you love—like Sean Baker or Chloé Zhao—look for their smaller, earlier shorts.
The real takeaway from The Florida Project isn't just that life is hard; it's that even in a purple motel next to a highway, a kid can still find a way to see a rainbow. The films listed above all share that spark. They find the humanity in the places most people just drive past on their way to the theme parks.
Start with American Honey if you want the vibes. Go with Shoplifters if you want the heart. Watch Capernaum if you want to be changed. Just make sure you have some tissues nearby. You’re gonna need ‘em.