Moonlight (2016) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

When the studio A24 made the scene in 2012, they were ready to take over the world of Hollywood with the great movies that have been released ever since. It was only a matter of time for one film of the studio’s catalogue to win the Best Picture Oscar, and that happened in 2017, with a film that became a timeless experience, Moonlight. 


PLOT


The 2016 film follows three chapters of one man’s life named Chiron who lives in Liberty City.


In i. Little, he is easily bullied but befriends with an adult drug dealer named Juan and his girlfriend Teresa. Despite all of the love he provides to the boy, Juan is responsible for his life to get worse, due to selling drugs to his mother Paula. 


In ii. Chiron, a now teenage Chiron deals with his drug addict mother, who also lost her job as a nurse turned to prostitution. At this point in his life, he discovers his sexuality for the first time. When avoiding her, he visits Teresa every now and then who lives alone after the unexplained death of Juan. One night at the beach, he shares a blunt with his only friend Kevin. The two kiss, then Kevin gives Chiron a hand job. The following day at school, the bully Terrel (Patrick Decile) gets Kevin into a hazing ritual, forcing him to beat up Chiron. Chiron refuses to report him, but instead attacks Terrel with a chair. That violent action sends him to juvenile hall. 


In iii. Black, he is now an adult drug dealer, and Paula is recovering at a drug treatment center. When he visits, she apologizes for the past and swears she’s always loved him, giving the two a chance to reconcile. He also gets a call from Kevin to catch up in Miami. He meets up with him at a diner, and he hasn't seen him since the hazing. When they meet again, Kevin talks about becoming a father, while Chiron admits he is a drug dealer. Kevin admits he was inspired to reach out as the song ‘Hello Stranger’ on the jukebox made him think of him. Chiron does drop him off at his house and they continue talking there. Kevin admits he is happy about how his life turns out, but Chiron reveals that he has never been intimate with anyone but him ever since their encounter at the beach. The film ends with Kevin comforting him, and we see a flashback of the young Chiron 'Little' at the beach.


THOUGHTS


There are so many words to describe what a great movie Moonlight is, but it is hard to not be repetitive. One word of many that suits it is incredible. Why? because this is a journey that sounds interesting on paper but becomes bigger onscreen. The big point that I am getting from this movie is that love comes from different shapes and sizes; so it doesn't matter what you look like or what you do, what matters is that you are comfortable with your identity. Director Barry Jenkins is able to present that exact message so well. When I first saw this film, I knew it needed to win the gold at the Oscars and I am glad that it won Best Picture, I just wish there wasn't a fiasco about it. Moonlight earns it compared to La La Land because it's a piece of reality that not many would ever recognize until now and the cast really makes the magic apart from Nicholas Britell’s score. While Ashton Sanders and Alex Hibbert make things interesting as the almost speechless Chiron, it is Trevante Rhodes as Black that gives the best performance of the character. Rhodes is great because we know he's been through so much and we want him to open up on his demons. When he meets Kevin again, that was his chance and it may have taken a while for him to do so, which is why it becomes a relief that he admits that he's only been with him. Rhodes is able to speak so much through silence like the other actors but at the diner scene, he does it best. The whole diner scene really makes the movie because we are wondering who is going to admit their love first. I never thought it would be so intense to see which man is going to confess their love first. I do enjoy the score by Nicholas Britell, but when ‘Hello Stranger’ by plays, it defines so much in a minute. It expresses Chiron's journey perfectly, while symbolizing how bad both men want to say how they're feeling deep down. Like Rhodes is great for Black, Andre Holland is also great as adult Kevin. He truly does a great job handling his perspective on their encounter. He had to see him again because he felt so bad how much of an opposite he loved that could’ve been avoided. There’s no guarantee if they’ll continue being together moving forward, but what matters is the content they feel with long awaited honesty. Naomie Harris on the other hand will mess with your emotions as Paula. At first we see that she cares for her son, but that love disappears when she starts using. When she apologizes for what she had done, it hurts so much because you know that Chiron will likely never forgive her, understandably so. And then you start remembering she would’ve not been an addict had it not been for one person that should’ve been a protector. What makes Mahershala Ali great as Juan is simple: He provided all his love to Chiron because when he found him, he felt responsible for him hence teaching him to swim and saying it’ll be his own choice to decide what kind of person he wants to be. When he is responsible for Paula's downfall, you will immediately be upset at him, but you eventually forgive him when noticing his regret. The big problem I had with Juan's arc is not knowing how he died. While at first viewing, it doesn't sound like it matters because of the focus on Chiron but at the same time it does. It matters because we feel that if he was still alive, Chiron would have never become a drug dealer like him. Overall, Ali earned his Supporting Actor Oscar. I was not so crazy Janelle Monae appearing in this film because I had never listened to her music before. But when putting that aside, she is great as Juan's girlfriend Teresa because she continues to be the guardian angel for Chiron, when Juan was no longer around. Chiron did the right thing keeping in touch with her because they both related to loneliness at that point in their lives. The fact he became a dealer with Juan must have broken her heart because neither would’ve wanted him to take that route. However, I’m sure she’ll be relieved knowing he found his happiness with Kevin, whether or not she knew of what happened at the beach between them. In conclusion, Moonlight will forever be an incredible film about love that stood the test of time in 2016 and will continue to do so for every future generation of moviegoers, earning the accolade of the first LGBTQ+ story and African ensemble to win the Best Picture Oscar. If you want to see a movie that'll make you look at things differently, than look no further with this one.