In the Shadow of the Magic Kingdom
Set on the fringes of Disney World, where an invisible underclass scrapes together its transient livings in decrepit motels, the latest film from Sean Baker further develops the talented writer-director’s interest in the everyday realities of marginalized communities—a welcome relief from the incessant navelgazing that predominates in the American indie-cinema landscape. Driven by a journalistic instinct that leads him beyond his own purview, Baker has made a series of films that tackle radically different subjects with a fusion of documentary-like authenticity and carefully constructed narratives. From the illegal Chinese immigrant of Take Out (2004) who is trying to pay off a debt through food delivery tips, to the street hustler from Ghana selling Gucci knockoffs in Prince of Broadway (2006); from the sub-bleached porn actress who befriends a lonely old woman in Starlet (2012) to the trans prostitute in Tangerine (2015) seeking vengeance for her broken heart, Baker immerses us in the worlds of characters who, in those rare occasions when they are actually represented onscreen, are too often reduced to stereotypes. That diversity of subject is mirrored in Baker’s exploratory uses of different mediums (from DV to iPhone to, now, 35mm), as well as in the range of different stylistic registers he brings to each film, which veer from drama to comedy without ever losing their guiding, humanistic impetus.
Beyond being the first of Baker’s films shot on 35mm, breaks new ground for the director in other ways. Firstly, it features a bona fide star actor in Willem Dafoe, who
