Review of Moonlight (2016) by Rees S — 01 Jan 2018

Before this film was made, the subject matter of toxic masculinity being socialized on young boys was only talked about in documentaries. When writer/Director Barry Jenkins broke this trend in 2016's best picture film there are many choices he could've made as a writer and director.

By far the best decision was to keep the focus on this single universal theme and not to clutter it with others like race or socioeconomic status. Although race and poverty are there, he leaves them as expositonary background to our protagonist, not what drives the story.

This helps magnify his focus on the heartache and social pressure our sexually confused protagonist feels from others. When Jenkins uses long shots and "hero" close-ups, combined with utter silence, no matter what the background of the audience member, male or female, black or white, you can't help but inject empathy into this character.

This is the science of art and is executed to perfection.