Review of Moonlight (2016) by Patrick L — 03 May 2017

"Amazingly well-acted and well-photographed, "Moonlight" shines as one of the best movies of 2016. It never strikes a wrong note.".

Movie Review: Moonlight.

Date Viewed: January 24 2017.

Directed By Barry Jenkins.

Screenplay By Barry Jenkins, Story By Tarell Alvin McCraney, Based on the play "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" by Tarell Alvin McCraney.

Starring: Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Jharrel Jerome, Andre Holland, Jaden Piner, Patrick Decile, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris and Janelle Monae.

This beautiful and essential movie feels like the work of a great poet. "Moonlight" is a breathlessly stunning achievement from director Barry Jenkins and it also feels socially relevant due to dark times in America right now. "Moonlight" centers around a shy and quietly withdrawn child named Chiron whose story is told in three compelling chapters, i. Little (Childhood), ii. Chiron (Teenhood) and iii. Black (Adulthood).

Amazingly well-acted and well-photographed by cinematographer James Laxton, "Moonlight" shines as one of the best movies of 2016. It never strikes a wrong note. In the first episode "Little", Chiron (Alex Hibbert) is a shy and quietly withdrawn child who gets picked on by a group of bullies and he runs and hides in an empty house. Chiron is later found by a crack dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali) who takes him into his home where he scores an unlikely friendship with him. Chiron starts to open up and reveals that he has no father to raise him and he lives with her abusive and crack addict mother, Paula (Naomie Harris).

Chiron turns to Juan and his live-in girlfriend, Teresa (Janelle Monae) more as his father/and mother figures and he spends more time with him and he also finds a friend named Kevin (Jaden Piner) who he grows more attached to. In the second chapter "Chiron", we see a teenaged Chiron (Ashton Sanders) who continues to be a close friend of Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) but he gets severely bullied daily by his fellow peer and student, Terrel (Patrick Decile). Even though Juan is now deceased, it doesn't stop Chiron from continuing to visit Teresa and he still often spends nights at her house because her mother is still a crack-addicted mess.

Continuing to be the target of Terrel's relentless bullying, a social worker pressures Chiron to either suspend them or pressing any charges but he doesn't believe any of that is going to stop the bullying so he takes matters into his own hands by smashing a chair into Terrel's back which gets him arrested. Chiron's relationship with Kevin also turns estranged because he and Terrel partook in beating him up in the school yard.

In the third chapter "Black", Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) is now a hardened adult and drug dealer who lives outside Atlanta and he now goes by the name Black. One night, he gets a phone call from Kevin (Andre Holland) who works as a server and cook at a diner and he asks Chiron to come and visit him in Miami. Kevin also apologizes to Chiron for his unthinkable actions in the school yard which drove Chiron to revenge and hit Terrel in the back. Chiron first comes to a drug treatment facility where his drug-addict mother now resides. Chiron despises her previous behavior with him but their tense conversation comes to a pleasing conclusion when he tearfully forgives her.

Chiron finally comes to Miami to visit Kevin and he admits that he's never been in relationship with another person. Kevin was the only person Chiron ever thought about because he's intimately gay. All three actors (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes) who play Chiron in three different time periods are terrific in habiting this one role and familiar supporting actors Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris give extraordinary, Oscar-worthy performances as the crack dealer who cares for little Chiron and the crack-addict mother who ignores and mostly abuses Chiron.

"Moonlight" reminded me a lot of "Boyhood" because it tells another slice-of-life story in America and it's told in three separate dramatic stages. Writer and director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy) who adapts from Tarell Alvin McCraney's critically acclaimed play "In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue" doesn't hold anything back or make a false move. He tackles the difficulties of dealing with loneliness and cultural sexually in a way that's universal and remarkably authentic.

Deeply moving, sad, brilliant and great all around, I cannot recommend it any higher.