Believe the hype: 7-year-old Brooklynn Prince is amazing in The Florida Project, Sean Baker's moving new film about the long-term residents of a motel just outside Disney World. If she becomes the youngest Oscar nominee ever, I won't be all that surprised.
But it's also worth highlighting the work done by Bria Vinaite, who plays Halley, a teal-haired, weed-loving young mother. The first-time actor is magnetic and convincing in every one of her scenes; she really helps bring the film's universe, where the line between magic and misery is precariously thin, to life.
Vinaite was discovered by Baker on Instagram, which she once used to promote her clothing line. So it makes sense that she'd maintain a good account; it works because she always seems to be herself, whether she's posting memes about being emo, videos of her dancing to Future, or ethereally lit fashion shots from her movie's whirlwind press cycle.
"Public service announcement — I look dumb cute today," she says in one video, blunt in hand. It's official: she rules.