Award season is nigh, and headlines are already using “front-runner” and “Willem Dafoe” in the same breath. Dafoe has been lauded for showing his “softer side” as Bobby, a kind but no bullshit manager of a budget hotel in Sean Baker’s latest indie gem, The Florida Project. Dafoe is no stranger to fancy film accolades—he’s received two Academy Award nominations—and neither is the five-year-old studio that made The Florida Project, A24. (You may have heard of their recent success, Moonlight.) The Oscar buzz is understandable—Dafoe is an acting wizard—but the real reason The Florida Project is a breakout success, and the reason everyone should see the film, is the rowdy, previously unknown 7-year-old actor Brooklynn Prince. (Full disclosure: Prince follows me on Twitter. Brooklynn, if you’re reading this, I apologize for how frequently I tweet about butts. You’ll understand in a decade or so.)
