Review of Moonlight (2016) by Rick Z — 04 Mar 2017

Moonlight is a decent low-budget indie movie. Overall, however, it is flawed and the story isn't substantial enough to carry the weight of the meaning it strives to bring to the audience. The first two parts are the strongest--the character of Juan contributes a lot to the theme, although it's a stretch to depict a drug dealer as politically correct. But the relationship between he and Chiron has substance. Unfortunately, he has died by part two, and there isn't a relationship to build upon to make up for it. The relationship between Chiron and Kevin is underdeveloped, a tenuous friendship at best. Part three is the weakest, however, as it has to carry the burden of climax and resolution. It's hardly believable that the small, skinny, frightened kid grows up to become the character of Juan, as the adult version of Chiron seems disconnected from the childhood and teenage incarnations. The connection between Chiron and Kevin, which should be the heart of the movie, seems undeserved since their characters were not developed enough in the earlier parts, and so comes across as strained.

Despite the merits of this movie--breaking ground with a black, gay protagonist, I was left not feeling much of anything for either of these characters, and was disappointed in what Chiron had become. It seemed there could have been a range of possibilities, had his character held more complexity than the tale of a black kid from a rough neighborhood with a drug-addicted mother. And he happened to be gay, another underdeveloped element of this film (compare to Brokeback Mountain, where there was clarity and definition of the relationship between the central characters).