After the 2025 Academy Awards, this critically acclaimed film from 2017 is a must-watch. During awards season every year, several movies emerge as the best of their respective years. This year, films like Anora, The Brutalist, Wicked, and The Substance took the spotlight. These films were among the group nominated for the top prize at the Oscars, and Anora ended up winning Best Picture. For fans of film, the Best Picture nominees also work as a reminder to watch standout movies from previous years.
For example, this year, The Brutalist was a reminder to watch The Pianist, which also stars Adrien Brody and shares many similar themes. However, for the sake of this article, I instead want to focus on Anora. The Sean Baker-directed movie was the clear winner of the 2025 Academy Awards, winning five Oscars, including Best Director, Best Actress, and the aforementioned Best Picture. After Anora’s Best Picture win, fans of the film should watch a 2017 movie that was also directed by Baker.
The Florida Project Is A Must Watch After Anora’s Best Picture Win
The Florida Project Is Currently Streaming On Max
Even though The Florida Project didn’t receive as much attention from the Academy after it was released in 2017, it’s just as good as Anora. In fact, The Florida Project actually has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than Anora, and currently sits at an impressive 96% (via Rotten Tomatoes). The story of The Florida Project follows a mother and her six-year-old daughter who live in a rundown motel just outside of Walt Disney World. In the film, Moonee stirs up trouble around the motel with her friends while her mom, Halley, encourages her bad behavior.
Meanwhile, Bobby, who is played by Willem Dafoe, tries to manage the motel as best as he can. Dafoe actually received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in The Florida Project, but this was unfortunately the only Oscar nomination that the film received. I firmly believe The Florida Project is one of the best movies of 2017, and should have been nominated for Best Picture, as well. Since it was not, it is great that Baker is finally getting well-deserved praise for his newest movie, Anora.
Max Also Has Another Sean Baker Movie You Should Watch
Tangerine Was SH๏τ On An iPhone
The Florida Project is not the only one of Baker’s movies that is currently streaming on Max. Additionally, his 2015 film Tangerine is also available to watch on the streaming service. In the film, after getting out of jail, Sin-Dee discovers that her boyfriend cheated on her, which leads to her and her friend, Alexandra, wildly going around Los Angeles looking for him. Tangerine is an especially interesting movie to watch since it had a shockingly low budget of just $100,000 and was sH๏τ entirely on an iPhone.
These two films, as well as Anora, prove how talented of a filmmaker Baker is.
Just like The Florida Project, Tangerine also has a score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes (via Rotten Tomatoes). These two films, as well as Anora, prove how talented of a filmmaker Baker is. Fans of Anora will be happy to see Karen Karagulyan, who plays Toros in the Best Picture winner, in both The Florida Project and Tangerine. While he has a very minor role in The Florida Project, he is one of the main characters in Tangerine. Therefore, after Anora’s big win at the Academy Awards, fans of the film would enjoy both of these movies.
