The Florida Project Page #9

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Moonee watches Jerry Springer while Halley is waking up with

a hangover.

HALLEY:

Go run and get some Waffle Home,

baby. And where the f*** is Scooty?

MOONEE:

I’m not allowed there anymore. And

Scooty is with that family in 246.

Extreme delayed response. Looooooong Beat.

HALLEY:

What?

EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - ROOM 246 - DAY

Halley knocks hard on the door. ROOM 246 FATHER answers.

Scooty sits on the bed with a 4 year-old ROOM 246 LITTLE

GIRL.

FATHER:

Hey, Halley.

Halley looks inside and address Scooty.

52.

HALLEY:

Moonee’s gonna hit the pool, you

wanna come hang?

FATHER:

Ashley doesn’t think that’s a good

idea right now, so--

HALLEY:

‘The f*** does that mean?

ROOM 246 FATHER

Okay, Halley... let’s not go there.

ROOM 246 MOTHER walks over.

ROOM 246 MOTHER

We don’t need your drama.

HALLEY:

You haven’t seen me get dramatic,

b*tch.

ROOM 246 MOTHER

You define drama queen, b*tch.

HALLEY:

What did Ashley say about me?

Halley ignores the mother’s attempt to shut down the

conversation and continues to create drama. The mother slams

the door on her.

INT. WAFFLE HOME - DAY

Halley marches into Waffle Home with Moonee. She sits down

and Ashley’s co-worker comes over to take the order.

HALLEY:

(points to Ashley)

Sorry, but can she take our order?

The co-worker recognizes Moonee and smiles.

CO-WORKER

Oh, it’s you. Never seen you inside

before. Okay, hold on.

The co-worker approaches Ashley and gestures to Halley.

Ashley approaches the table.

ASHLEY:

Yeah.

53.

HALLEY:

Yeah?

ASHLEY:

How can I help you, Halley?

HALLEY:

What’s going on?

ASHLEY:

What do you mean?

HALLEY:

Moonee’s been telling me she ain’t

welcome here anymore.

ASHLEY:

She’s allowed to come into the

establishment, but I can’t be

giving any more food out.

HALLEY:

Oh sh*t, you get in trouble?

ASHLEY:

And I don’t want Scooty hanging out

with her or that new kid from

FutureLand anymore.

HALLEY:

Okay, so you ain’t in trouble.

What’s goin’ on then?

ASHLEY:

Nothing. Nothing to discuss.

HALLEY:

Really?

ASHLEY:

Really.

Ashley begins to walk away.

HALLEY:

Yo. What type of service is that.

You going to take our order?

Ashley takes out her order pad.

HALLEY (CONT’D)

Moonee, order whatever the f*** you

want.

54.

MOONEE:

Yes! I would like a strawberry

waffle with extra warm syrup and

eggs and bacon and more

strawberries. And blueberries. And

coke. Two of ‘em.

HALLEY:

That’s it? You could order more.

MOONEE:

Extra bacon. And extra, extra

syrup.

ASHLEY:

You got money for all this?

CUT TO:

INT. WAFFLE HOME - DAY - LATER

A bunch of empty plates and mugs surround little Moonee.

Halley looks over to Ashley.

HALLEY:

You wanna have a burping contest?

Moonee’s eyes light up. She lets out a huge BELCH.

HALLEY (CONT’D)

Whoa, nice one.

Ashley slaps the bill on the table. Halley lifts up the bill

and looks at it.

HALLEY (CONT’D)

I want the rest to go.

Ashley brings a container and bag to the table and begins to

turn away.

HALLEY (CONT’D)

Ya gonna pack this for us or do I

call Waffle Home Central and tell

them what I think of one of their

employees?

Ashley packs the containers. All sides are humiliated.

Moonee, oblivious, finishes the last of her waffle.

MOONEE:

Say hi to Scooty for me.

55.

EXT. ROUTE 192 - DAY

Halley is dragging Moonee home with one hand along the side

of US-192. Halley is walking way too fast.

In an act of rage, Halley chucks the bags into the middle of

oncoming traffic.

A car SCREECHES.

From OFF-SCREEN, an ANGRY DRIVER screams at Halley who

returns a middle finger over her shoulder.

MOONEE:

Mom! Why did you do that?

Halley holds back tears.

INT. MAGIC CASTLE - ROOM 323 - NIGHT

Moonee and Halley are in their room. Hip Hop plays from the

phone. Halley is changing into a bikini.

MOONEE:

Bobby says we can’t go night

swimming.

HALLEY:

Well first off, screw Bobby.

Second, we’re not going swimming...

we’re going to take swimsuit

selfies!

MOONEE:

Swimsuit selfies!

Moonee gets excited. She changes into a bathing suit as well.

HALLEY:

Swimsuit selfies! That’s right! You

take some of me then I’ll take you.

MOONEE:

Okay!

Moonee grabs the phone and takes some shots of her mom posing

in various sexy poses.

HALLEY:

Wait, hold up.

Halley carefully removes the pictures of her with Moonee on

the bathroom mirror behind her.

56.

HALLEY (CONT’D)

Okay, now. Ready.

MOONEE:

You know, selfies are actually when

you take photos of yourself.

EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - PARKING LOT - DAY

Bright daylight. A CHURCH GROUP is handing out bagged loafs

of white bread to various families. Bobby and Magic Castle

Owner Narek stand and watch from a distance. A VICTIM of

domestic abuse stands in line.

NAREK:

Do they have to do it right here?

Guests come right through here, for

Christ's sake, Bobby.

BOBBY:

Guys, can we move the van to the

back, please? Thank you.

CHURCH VOLUNTEER

Of course, no problem, Bobby.

Moonee shoves her way through the line of people.

MOONEE:

Excuse me. Coming through.

CHURCH VOLUNTEER

Hi, what would you like?

Moonee points to some bread.

MOONEE:

I want that!

INT. MAGIC CASTLE - ROOM 323 - BATHROOM - NIGHT

Moonee plays by herself in the bathtub. A cheap radio sitting

on the top of the toilet blasts some hip-hop.

EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - ROOM 323 + EMPTY ROOM - DAY

In a MONTAGE sequence, Bobby watches as Moonee and her

daughter make a bunch of trips from their room to a VACANT

MOTEL ROOM (being used as a storage room) located near the

office.

57.

Halley becomes more and more belligerent by carrying less

items on every trip, dragging out the process.

EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - WALKWAY + EMPTY ROOM - DAY

Bobby is carrying three large plastic bags full of clothes

behind Halley and Moonee.

BOBBY:

You know the deal. No reason to

express your opinion about it.

HALLEY:

I have an idea. Why don’t you just

say we did this.

BOBBY:

I’m not going through this again.

The sooner you’re out, the sooner

you’re back in. Let’s go.

HALLEY:

I don’t understand why we got to

even do this, it’s stupid.

BOBBY:

I’m not going to explain this to

you every time, Halley... I’m not

letting you establish residency.

Don’t think I think you’re as dumb

as you want me to think. You’ll

f*** me. You don’t want to do it

then you can go.

HALLEY:

But who will know if we do this or

not?

Bobby points upwards to one of the many CCTV’s.

BOBBY:

And I’m being serious right now...

I’m being straight with you... you

have to square up by Friday.

HALLEY:

You need to get laid, son. C’mon,

Moonee.

BOBBY:

See you in twenty four hours.

58.

EXT. ROUTE 192 - DAY

Halley and Moonee exit the Magic Castle driveway and walk to

the motel directly across 192...

INT. ARABIAN NIGHTS MOTEL - LOBBY - DAY

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