Movie Review: MOONLIGHT (Review #2)

A young man deals with his dysfunctional home life and comes of age in Miami during the "War on Drugs" era. The story of his struggle to find himself is told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love while grappling with his own sexuality.

A small, little independent film, made for almost nothing that manages to transcend its limitations and be a full illustration of the power of the cinematic language, a real effort in the craftsmanship of images and sound for emotions, a wonderful piece of cinema, that just fell a little short from being a great one for me.

Movie Review: MOONLIGHT

Moonlight is a 2016 film from director Barry Jenkins about a boy (and man) named Chiron who is gay in an environment (a poor, predominantly African-American, area of Miami) where being gay is not safe or socially accepted. Told in three acts covering three different moments in Chiron’s life, this film is an incredible introspective piece that is emotionally powerful, resonant, and complex. This film stars Alex R. Hibbert (Little – 9 year old Chiron), Ashton Sanders (Chiron – teenage years), Trevante Rhodes (Black – adult Chiron), André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Jaden Piner, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monáe, and Mahershala Ali.