This movie is absolutely stunning. The actors, and particularly the child actors, blew me away with their performances. At first, I was completely turned off by their bratty behavior. But then I began to appreciate that the director was trying to give an unflinching, unvarnished peek into the desperate lives of the poor who subsist at these low-rent motels. One wouldn't expect their children to be models of behavior, nor their parents to be model parents. I loved how the director showed events primarily from the perspective of the children, as they deal with the daily struggle by finding magic in the mundane and sometimes the horrifying. The ending blew me away, the kids won my heart and I cheering them on even as I grieved for them.

I was thoroughly engrossed in this movie from start to finish. The performances were astounding, the direction and the clever camera work made me feel like I was in the room with these people. I have been binge watching Oscar nominated movies, and so far it is this one, with one measly supporting actor nod that has stuck with me.

Now if you like a tight linear storyline, or you require your leading actors and actresses to be admirable heroes who earn a happy ending, or you need a lot of action or high end production values you will scratch your head at positive reviews. If like me, you like slice of life, character driven well-acted films about people who do not usually find a spotlight, give it a try.

I suspect that the people who gave this film low ratings and reviews don't realize that there genuinely is a fringe society living in garishly-colored motels, with a substantial population of children, within a short distance of Disneyworld. It's something that holds an inherent irony and poignancy, and this film reflects that very well.

This is a loaded movie. In the beginning, I was annoyed by how bratty the kids are but they grow on you. It's one of those slice of life type of stories, not full of Hollywood special effects. Shallow minds, people who can't empathize with those who aren't privileged and fancy, and people who can't handle or understand stories that aren't spoon fed to them need not bother straining themselves to watch. The ending is very sad. I won't give it away. Unlike many other reviewers, I didn't hate the mom character. I didn't think she's hate-worthy. She's flawed, she ill equipped, she probably didn't grow up in the best circumstances and she's just trying to do better than she had. She probably wasn't ready to be a mother, especially since she's very young with a 6 year old, and yet it's clear she loves her daughter. The main character is precocious and sassy, and she doesn't know any other type of life. That's life. Deal with it. Not everyone has the same opportunities and tools that everyone else has, and this movie sets out to illustrate that fact. All in all, it's a touching movie. It's not fast paced and there's not much of a plot, but I think the goal was to depict how people live and at least attempt to instill a sense of empathy in the viewers.

(No spoilers) I started this with no intentions on liking or finishing it because most movies nowadays are huge disappointments. I was surprised that A-list actor Willem Dafoe would be in such a film, and he did fantastic as always. Everyone in this film is 100% believable, to the point this could have been a documentary and not a movie. It's also tough to find young kids that age who don't appear to be faking or over dramatizing it. A+ on the casting. Bravo for the actors. They all have great careers ahead of them.
There's not much empathy for the annoying lowlife mother character played by Bria Vinaite, but she played the part convincingly well. (Once again, NO spoilers) There's a part where the main character little girl played by Brooklynn Prince is filmed up close while her and the mother are eating in a hotel restaurant. It almost appears like candid audition footage. By far my favorite scene from this film. The supporting actors were all perfectly cast and played their parts brilliantly too.
The cinematography is great, the scenery and landscape are captured well, lots of colors and visuals, very pleasing to the eye.
As stated in other reviews, this movie is not for everyone. It's pretty raw and straightforward, gives you a glimpse in to the lifestyle of cheap motel life in Central Florida, and it's not always pleasant. But I really enjoyed watching it and hopefully you do too. Solid 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Absolutely beautiful, moving, funny and yes, sad. It's the whole package ! Script. cinematography !! I was left speechless by the acting of the little girl- I kept shaking my head while watching he in disbelief - simply amazing ! All the actors did a great job but she outshone them...I will remember this for a long while

Gritty, real and true. Take the roof off any house, hotel, motel, office, etc.and you will discover a world unfathomable for your "normal" average person to conceive. The stretch of 192 has its shady spots. It's also a known squatting ground for sexual predators.......cheap weekly rent made easy for the pervs,panhandlers, and homeless families. This movie shows you a sliver of a crap reality for many people. Get off your phones, look up, and see that life isn't grand for everyone. It's not the happiest place on earth.

This movie shows how much poverty touches on all Life. Not just blacks. It touches whites, Cubans, blacks, Mexican. Anyone could live in a low poverty area. Open your eyes and hearts people. This movie deserves an Oscar.