Review of Moonlight (2016) by Marcin M — 17 Mar 2017

This coming-of-age drama, by director Barry Jenkins, about growing up as a gay black man in the drug-infested, housing projects of Miami, is given the art-school treatment. The central conceit here is to depict three stages of the protagonist's life in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, as portrayed by three different actors.

In the first segment, Little (Alex Hibbert), a near mute boy, is befriended by a drug dealer (Mahershala Ali) and his wife (Janelle Monae) to escape his crack-addicted single mother (Naomie Harris). In the second segment, Chiron (Ashton Sanders) is still a withdrawn teenager but he shares an intimate sexual encounter with another boy that leads to betrayal.

In the final segment, he's unconvincingly transformed into Black (Trevante Rhodes), a muscular, chaste drug dealer whose physicality obscures his psychological and emotional trauma as he reconnects with his lost love (Andre Holland).

The movie was widely acclaimed as a rare, honest depiction of black male identity, masculinity, and sexuality, but its the kind of movie where critics congratulate themselves for their progressive sensitivities.

Despite the innovative conception, the central character is too opaque and passive, so the movie lacks depth and the dialogue is often didactic. Superb performances by Ali, Harris, Monae, and Holland help to compensate.

Lyrical cinematography by James Laxton. Written by Jenkins, based on a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney. Won Oscars for Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), and Adapted Screenplay.