Review of Moonlight (2016) by Brandon W — 15 Mar 2017

Moonlight is directed and written by Barry Jenkins, and it stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali in a coming-of-age drama about the three stages of life from Chiron which are from the time when he was a little kid, teenager, and adult in terms of his sexual identity and what he has to deal with.

For my third film in the Academy Awards approach, I decide to watch this next because when I first heard of this, I didn't take notice to it without even knowing what it's about, and when it starts getting high positive reviews which ended up getting Best Picture from Academy Awards, got me very curious about it and decide to rent it.

Turns out, I understand why it got Best Picture as it rightfully deserves it. The three actors that played Chiron which are Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes are superb in this as they both give their different versions of the character, but still manage to have the same spirit of the same character, which makes it interesting to know that the director didn't want any of the actors for Chiron to meet each other after filming is done so that they don't imitate each other.

Naomie Harris did a fantastic job being a drug addict that doesn't appreciate his son that I'm glad to see her get some recognition, even Mahershala Ali who was not in it that much, but still left an impact on the film that I'm glad that he won an Oscar for it.

The three stories of Chiron's life are equally so investing to watch of how this kid is going through his sexual identity when he doesn't know how to deal with it, which her mother doesn't help with the situation, and is very well-written by Barry Jenkins.

The cinematography by James Laxton is well done that the shots have purpose of the scenes that it's showing. The score by Nicholas Britell is beautiful with the violin scenes, and when there's is an actual song, it fits with the scene, and it doesn't feel like it's a way to get a paycheck out of it.

I didn't really know where it's leading, especially when it gets to the next story, and the way it's portrayed in this in terms of coming-of-age films, it's quite special and very refreshing in its way that does it a bit similarly to Boyhood, but puts the character in a horrible situation in the slums.

There are great moments that are just satisfying to watch multiple times, and the diner scene is really heartfelt and natural that you felt like you were there with him after all the things that he had to go through.

Moonlight is a masterpiece that I'm glad I got to notice Barry Jenkins as a director/writer and can't wait to see him do his next film that's about The Underground Railroad.