Moonlight Review
R: Some Sexuality, Drug Use, Brief Violence, and Language Throughout
A24, Plan B Entertainment, Pastel Productions
1 Hr and 50 Minutes
Cast: Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Jaden Piner, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali
REVIEW: A24 has been a perfect release for independent directors to shine. A lot of their films looks similar in cinematography. I didn't know anything about Barry Jenkin's Moonlight besides the fact that it performed extremely well at the Telluride Film Festival. This is one of those films I've gone into blind without seeing a trailer similar to what I did with Sing Street earlier this year. It was a movie I just thought as a film for the LGBT community, but as watching it I realize it is much more than that.
A young black man struggles with his identity while growing up in a tough Miami neighborhood. The coming of age tale takes place over three periods of his life while trying to come out but also stay faithful.
THE GOOD: Every coming of age story has its storyline and vision of life. What makes Moonlight so special is more than its presentation of story. This film is presented in the three ages of this man's life as growing up as a child to a teenager to an adult trying to compensate with his sexuality. It doesn't only show the reality of growing up in the hood, but unexpectedly the harshness of a homosexual African American male and the film daringly dives into a lot of depth into it. It is a movie that people of different races and sexuality can relate to. It is a coming of age film about a boy wanting to internally figure out who and what he truly is. The film goes much more beyond than the male being homosexual. This is an issue that plenty of people growing up still face with. As a college student I still go through this issue so this film spoke to me on numerous of levels and I am very much straight. It's like a combination of Dope and Boyhood with a homosexual lead character. It most likely wouldn't have the same effect if the character was straight because there would already be automatic acceptance. It would barely even be a movie.
The cast does a great job portraying these fully developed characters that makes the film much more understandable of the complications that Chiron goes through. We see Mahershala Ali who always gives an amazing performance in everything he does, being an important part of the first third of Chiron's life. Although you see him faster than you can say Cottonmouth, his performance sticks with you all the way through the film even if he's not on screen. Naomie Harris who is such a gorgeously amazing actress is extremely unrecognizable. You see her age in the most depressing and horrific way being the basis onto not only Chiron acting the way he is but also why he's so closeted [no pun intended] with people. She gives a great and haunting performance that gives you weird chills down your spine.
Besides having the brilliance of character and story, the film has the artsy visuals that go with it. Besides the cinematography being rather similar to every indie film with its colors and camera focus it offers other beautiful imagery you wouldn't expect. There is a scene where two teenage boys are conversing on a beach but then the ocean water disappears into the night along with the rest of the background with only the boys and the sand being on screen. That is just a description of how mesmerizing the look of the film really is.
THE BAD: As great as the film is told it does a running visualization of a character's movement when they're either introduced into the film or introduced at an older age as they look into the camera but the audio of the character is playing as they're saying their dialogue to someone while it isn't until midway through their sentence they're shown. It isn't annoying but it gets old really quickly.
The movie film also features a lot of innuendos with its dialogue. When someone says something risque to Chiron it either plays it up for laughs or emphasize it to a dramatic effect. It does get annoying for a while but it is for good intentions.
LAST STATEMENT: Powerfully written and directed with such detail and care for its story and the play it was based on, Barry Jenkin's Moonlight is a relevantly mesmerizing film that daringly tackles a hard concept and accomplishes to make it relatable for everyone homo or heterosexual.
Hey if Frank Ocean wants a biopic of his life, Barry Jenkins may the one to call.
Rating: 4.5/5 | 93%
Super Scene: Chiron questions Juan everything
