Dinner and a Movie: A Breakfast Buffet for The Florida Project

“It’s like Thanksgiving in here!” marvels single mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) at her neighbor’s luxuries: a full-size refrigerator and a crockpot, in contrast to the mini-fridge and microwave in the tiny motel room she shares with her six-year-old daughter Moonee (Brooklynn Prince). In The Florida Project, writer/director Sean Baker creates a magical movie about childhood and community in an unlikely place—budget motels outside Disney World.

Halley spends most of her time trying to get money to pay for food and their motel room. They subsist on donated white bread, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and the occasional pizza—though they can’t afford the pepperoni that Moonee loves.

Moonee and her friends run wild, and so do their imaginations. They love ice cream, and often go to Twistee Treat, “where we get free ice cream,” Moonee says. By “free,” she means that they beg strangers for change, telling creative stories to elicit sympathy. Cadging enough for one cone of vanilla, the children always share it equally.

But breakfast is Moonee’s favorite meal. Twice Halley takes Moonee for a breakfast blowout she can’t afford. The first time, at a local diner, Moonee almost orders her way through the entire menu, delighting as plate after plate arrives, including eggs and bacon—and then extra bacon. For the finale, a mother-daughter burping contest.

Later, when things are at their darkest, Halley takes Moonee to the breakfast buffet at a nearby upscale hotel. Moonee runs the length of it, ecstatic at the piles of pastries and mountains of fruit. This is a dream come true for Moonee, who wishes that she had a bigger stomach, and that even the forks could be made out of candy. Halley doesn’t eat. She just looks lovingly at Moonee, a child who makes her own magic.

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“Order whatever you want,” Halley tells Moonee when they go for breakfast. Recreate your own breakfast buffet—a magical meal any time of day—at home with our recipes for buttermilk pancakes, French toast, crispy bacon, and hash browns. For a sweet treat, make a quart of vanilla ice cream, too. If you’re out of syrup for pancakes or French toast, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some fruit are the perfect topping.