Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

just watch it!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

First of all, don't expect a feel-good movie here. Far from it. I don't know if you can actually write a "SPOILER" for this putrid movie. It's rotten already.If you really want to spend a depressing night listening to a foul-mouthed shrew spewing F-bombs and worse in front of rude, unsupervised elementary school kids, here's your movie. If not, don't say you weren't warned. Yeah, I'm gonna judge this piece of garbage. HOW COULD YOU, SEAN BAKER...? How can anyone expose little children to the kind of foul language and adult behavior that the kids in this movie were exposed to? Some of these reviews sicken me, actually PRAISING the filmmaker for a movie with a kid put in the bathroom while her Mom turns tricks in their hotel room.He should not be proud of this, and anyone who thinks this is okay should maybe rethink their own morals here. The ratings led us to choose this on Netflix. It was a big mistake to trust ratings.Don't look for any plot here beyond a series of bad decisions by an awful mother ("Halley") that end up exposing her feral child ("Moonee") to perverts and creeps, and all too predictably, after a long overdue period of her own misbehavior, lead to her kid heading into the foster care system. There is no redemption or growth here. I consider these filmmakers CREEPS and CHILD ABUSERS for making this movie. I feel sorry for any kid whose parent would let their child be involved in such an obscenity-laced production as this. They have allowed their own child to be robbed of their innocence long before their time. They are as irresponsible as the mother portrayed in this movie....or worse, since she was a made-up character and they really did this.Willem Dafoe plays a likeable, decent, humane and admirable motel manager who does his best to protect the pathetic, immature, foul-mouthed Halley from the consequences of her own lunatic actions and appalling parenting. Dafoe and the other semi-decent supporting actors are the only bright spots in this movie and the only reason I'm giving this two stars. ONE FINAL WARNING: As some of the more honest reviewers will admit, this film has an abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Moonee breaks free of Child Protective Services officers and desperately heads for DisneyWorld's Magic Castle with her little friend, Jancey. They simply run in through an unguarded exit, as if that's gonna happen.....and then, as they near the Magic Castle, the movie mercifully just stops.

Good movie, but way too much reliance on ten year olds running around plotlessly.

When this independent film was released to DVD, film critic Mark Kermode was giving it a lot of praise, I only knew bits and pieces of its premise, so I was looking forward to it, directed by Sean Baker (Tangerine). Basically in the Magic Castle, a budget motel in Kissimmee, Florida near Walt Disney World, six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Kimberly Prince) lives with her young tattooed single mother Halley (Bria Vinaite). She spends most of her time during the summer unsupervised with her motel friends Scooty (Christopher Rivera) and Dicky (Aiden Malik), playing and causing mischief, scrounging and stealing from tourists, and getting in trouble. The three children are one day caught spitting on a guest's car, Dicky's father (Edward 'Punky' Pagan) restricts him from playing with Moonee and Scotty, his family later relocate to New Orleans, which saddens the others. While the kids are cleaning the car, Moonee meets Jancey (Valeria Cotto), who lives at the Futureland motel next door, she invites her to hang out with them. Bobby (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Willem Dafoe), the manager of Magic Castle, is protective of the children, this includes one incident where an elderly man is acting suspiciously hanging around them, he threatens to call the police if the man returns. Halley is struggling to pay her rent, she tries to sell perfume to many tourists in parking lots, and she asks Scooty's mother, Ashley (Mela Murder), to steal food for them from the diner she works at. But Ashley cuts contact after discovering Moonee, Scooty, and Jancey set fire to an abandoned condominium. To make more money, Halley sets up an online prostitution profile offering her services, closing Moonee in the bathroom when she is with a client. Bobby notices the activity and applies restrictions on unregistered guests in her motel room. When Halley steals a client's Disney resort passes to sell them, the man she stole demands them back; Bobby sees him off but warns Halley that he will evict her if she continues her prostitution. Halley is desperate and approaches Ashley to apologize and ask for money, Ashley mocks her for her prostitution, Halley beats her up in front of Scooty. The next day, Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) arrive to investigate Halley. She cleans up her room and gives away her weed, then takes Moonee to a resort hotel restaurant, charging the meal to a guest's room. When they return to the motel, DCF and the police are waiting to take Moonee into foster care pending investigation. Bobby overhears the commotion, but cannot bring himself to do anything, he just stands outside and smokes. Moonee runs away to find Jancey, they run away together to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Also starring Josie Olivo as Grandma Stacy. Vinaite is great as the just about managing single mother, Prince is impossibly cute and brilliant as the mischievous daughter, and Dafoe is terrific as the kindly motel manager, the theme of childhood innocence and the clash between adult and child worlds are very evocative, it is emotionally intense, but there good-spirited and funny bits as well, a fantastic drama. Very good!

First thing you have to know before watching this: This is not an easy movie. And it also has people in it, that you may not find likeable. You may even think badly about the kids involved at times (the "pranks" they do). But the movie itself is not judging. It almost feels like this is based on personal experience. As you can tell by me saying that, I did not read up on how the story came together, which is something I do to not get spoiled about what the movies are about, I'm about to watch and therefor can enjoy freely.Although enjoy may be a stretch use for some in regards to this movie. So while I was hesitant at first and had some issues with what was going on at the beginning, I more than appreciate the ways the movie challenged me. If that is not your thing, it's ok. The acting and the raw nature of the film (edit, cinematography, direction, script) are impecable