My take on the ending of The Florida Project is that the ending is supposed to capture the entire tenor and point of the film in a single moment. The ending is a 4th wall break for the audience. You're shown Moonie reaching Cinderella's castle but you know she didn't really get there. You see her happy ending but deep down the adult in you understands the reality, it's just not feasible for two 6 year olds to make it to Magic Kingdom. The travel on foot from Kissimmee, navigating with the minds of 6 year olds alone makes the scene impossible and the adult in you knows that but the director gives you a chance to look away. He gives you the space to lie to yourself and say "no, look. They made it." He lets you delude yourself that this isn't horrific when the adult in you knows it is. And that mirrors everything else in the movie. The whole thing is set up as a dichotomy of youthful exuberance and delusion juxtaposed to Willem Defoe's real world. All the while the film is asking you the whole time "which will you chose?" Will you acknowledge the horror or will you look away?