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Moonlight is honestly one of the BEST movies I have seen in a very long time and EVER. A film that explores the themes of Black masculinity, vulnerability, sexuality, and the symbolism of water. This film does an AMAZING job with EVERYTHING! No matter what you think, this film deserved to win Best Picture for the story that is told and the representation.
Directed by Barry Jenkins and based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s unpublished semi-autobiographical play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Moonlight is told through three time periods (young adolescence, mid-teen and young adult) in the life of Chiron.
Starting in 1980s Miami, Chiron (played by Alex Hibbert) lives with his single mother, Paula (Harris). Paula is a crackhead that lives in a crime-ridden neighborhood. Chiron is a 9-years old kid that is bullied while being called the nickname “Little.” Chiron is constantly bullied because of his small size, timid, and shy personality. One day while running from bullies, he runs into an abandoned apartment and locks the door. Here, he crosses paths with a drug dealer named Juan (Ali) and his partner, Teresa (Monae). A father/son relationship builds between the two as Juan gives life advice to Chiron while teaching him how to swim. Life is hard for Chiron as his mother neglects him for that crack, and his one inspiration is the one selling his mother the drug.
The film jumps to its next act with Chiron as a teenager (played by Ashton Sanders) in high school. Life continues to be hard as the bullying intensifies against him, primarily from one kid. Around this time, life is still hard, but Chiron starts questioning his sexuality. During this wonderful time in the world, the many items of the topic are who slept with who. Chiron, still his quiet self, tries his best to avoid the people that bully him all the time. During this time, his mother is more concerned with her drugs than her own son. One of the few places that Chiron escapes to is at Teresa’s home. Juan has since died in the time skip. Chiron starts questioning his sexuality after his friend Kevin (played by Jerome) as they share a very touching moment on the beach. After a significant incident at school, Chiron is arrested.
The film skips to its final act with Chiron, now an adult, and living in the ATL. Chiron (played by Trevante Rhodes) has become a drug dealer and goes by the name “Black.” Chiron is more intimidating now as he looked like he pumped nothing but iron while in jail. Chiron’s life gets an unexpected call when his childhood friend Kevin (Holland) reaches out to Chiron. Chiron decides to make the journey home to finally come to terms with his past.
Once again, Moonlight is one of the BEST, POWERFUL, POETIC, and truly SPECTACULAR movies ever made. It is hard to find somewhere to start and how to review this film. I guess we shall begin with the structure of how the film is made. Dividing the movie into three acts a genuine way to tell the story and life of Chiron. Each act represents what Chiron wants to be or is called during that time in his life. We see a person grow from a little boy into a man, and along the way, we care more and more about what happens to him. All three acts are dedicated to a time in Chiron’s life where we get a snippet of his life for a few days. Each act shows us how Chiron is shaped later on in life.
Yet, each act has the particular theme always being asked, “Who is you?” Through the story, Chiron really doesn’t know who he is. His life is just a ball of confusion, and he looking for answers. The first identity issue he has is with masculinity. Everywhere he looks and in the black community, it shows blacks as being aggressive and hard, yet that isn’t Chiron. He is quite, says about two words, and seems to have a kind heart. Now he did open a can of whoop-ass on the bully that was terrorizing him. He picked up that chair and unloaded on the dude. As “Black,” Chiron transforms himself into a person he always thought he should be. A person with a hardened exterior with a towering and intimidating feel about him. Gone is the skinny boy that was picked on so much. Yet, deep inside and shown, later on, he is still the quiet boy looking for love from the areas he never got. This is proven when he meets him, mom, at her rehab clinic. His mom tells him how sorry she was to him and how she wishes she could’ve changed. Chiron sits still, not saying anything, but tears come from his eyes because what he really wanted was lost long ago.
Identity is the most robust theme in this film, especially being black and that you should be proud to be a black person in the world. When Juan and Chiron are sitting on the beach after a swim, Juan so eloquently stated, “Let me tell you something, man. There are black people everywhere. You remember that, okay? No place you can go in the world ain’t got no black people, we was the first on this planet.”
Sexual identity also becomes a theme in this fantastic film. Along with not knowing who he really is, Chiron also doesn’t know what he likes sexually. First, when Chiron was called “Little,” his mother berates him because of the way he walks. His mother states when talking to Juan, “You ever see the way he walk? You’re gonna tell him why the other boys kick his ass all the time?” As the other kids pick on him, this leads to Little having a conversation with Juan asking, What’s a f-word? Things really change when Juan, a teenager and has an intimate moment with Kevin.
The cinematography and camera work in this film is excellent. Some of the scenes are indeed something to watch and gives the feel of the emotions between certain characters. The first example was the scene between Chiron when he was 9 and his mom. Just the way the camera goes back and forth between them. You can tell his mother absolutely despises him, and he just staring at her with almost no emotion. Then she yells at him. You think she calls him the f-word, but later on, it’s something else. The scene is just so intense. Another example is after Chiron gets beat up in school, and he goes to school the next day. Every door Chiron opens, the camera changes angels into one smooth but intense movement.
The three actors who played Chiron (Rhodes, Sanders, and Hibbert) did a fantastic job with each of them, embodying their character’s life at a particular stage in his life. This helped with the transition and showed how Chiron wasn’t the same person throughout the whole film but changed each and every time.
The supporting cast also did its thing with making this movie great. Mahershala Ali was a highlight and won his first Academy Award for this film. He played Juan with such coolness but also trying to be a loving person to a kid who had nothing. He saw how exceptional the boy could be. Many scenes showed how great of an actor Ali is.
The women in this film, Naomie Harris as Chiron’s drug-addicted mother, Paula, and Janelle Monáe as Juan’s girlfriend, Theresa, were great. Monae didn’t say much in the whole film, but she was a gentle presence. Harris, on the other hand, was so good. She isn’t even my mama, and I didn’t like her.
Moonlight is a film that everyone should watch. A film that explores so many themes and areas of a person’s life. Even though we never see the whole story, the amount we do see is enough for one to feel for a person.
