Moonlight is a beautiful movie. The prior sentence manages to describe both the visual aspects of the film and the story aptly. The film is an extensive study of Chiron from age childhood to adulthood. It examines various elements of his life growing up in Miami, being black, drugs, love, and being homosexual. Moonlight is a Must See film.
Moonlight is an amazing character study of Chiron
Chiron, who is called Little as a child, is bullied and called various gay slurs. His father isn’t in the picture, and his mother may be there physically sometimes, she’s often more involved with her own desires to pay him any real attention. Juan (Mahershala Ali) befriends the child after seeing him bullied and looks to help mentor him. The movie jumps ahead Chiron as a high schooler and then into adulthood.
This film was so compelling and relatable. Largely in part to the performances of the three actors playing the three stages of Chiron’s life. Alex R. Hibbert plays Little, Ashton Sanders plays Chiron, and Trevante Rhodes plays Black, which is Chiron’s adult nickname. Little doesn’t speak much as his confidence in humanity has been destroyed. His mother is a crack addict, his peers torment him, and it appears he’s been through a lot. Hibbert does a terrific job conveying these emotions and his sullen silence often left me wanting to just hug him.
Spoilers to follow as I couldn’t decide how to discuss this movie without going into specifics
The connection little makes with Juan was the emotional crux for me. Juan is a drug dealer and when the truth is revealed to him that Little’s mother, Paula (Naomie Harris) is buying rocks from one of his dealers it crushes him. There is a sequence where Little asks Juan what a faggot is after Paula told Little he was one. The conversation that follows is crushing and Ali’s performance makes it so much more. His character is so complex as often drug dealers are painted as villains. Here, he is more than his job. He’s aware of the damage he is causing, but he also uses his influence in a positive way. At least, he uses it to help a little boy who is already being picked on for being gay.
While Juan is only in the first act of the film, his words and role as a mentor sets the rest of the film up. “At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you’re going to be,” is the mantra of the film. The only other child we see that is nice to Little is Kevin (Jaden Piner) who encourages Little to stand up for himself. Sanders arrives as Chiron in act 2 and Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) is still seen as his only friend.
I feel Sanders performance is one of the bravest I’ve seen on screen. Kevin and Chiron share a very intimate moment on the beach that takes Chiron by surprise. There is an uneasiness about the exchange that is only compounded when Kevin is encouraged to beat up Chiron at school by Terrel (Patrick Decile). It’s the turning point that pushes Chiron to decide who he wants to be and leads to act III.
Act 3 picks up with Chiron as an adult
Chiron now goes by the nickname given to him by Kevin, Black. Black has taking Juan’s former role only in Atlanta rather than Miami. His mother is in rehab and seems to be extremely remorseful of her past. Black seems to have rebuilt his persona completely and is a much stronger individual than his previous two personas. Then Black receives a surprise phone call from Kevin. This leads Black to return to Miami with an apparent hope for love.
The idea of love and finding one’s place is powerfully crafted in this movie. It’s a universally beautiful story and amazingly acted. Director and writer Barry Jenkins has created a masterpiece that is as visually stunning as it is emotionally compelling. If Moonlight is playing near you I encourage you to see it in the theater.
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