Moonlight

Score:  ****1/2 out of ***** (A)

Directed by Barry Jenkins
Starring Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris
Running time: 111 minutes
Rated R

Long Story Short:  Moonlight meditates on the life of a young black gay man and the ways in which both hard life circumstances as well as unexpected blessings shape him.  Taking place over three periods of the main character's life, three different actors do a great job not just with continuity but in convincingly developing him.  Even as it tells a relatively simple tale, the film will leave you with plenty to think about.  Highly recommended.


A young boy (Hibbert) known as "little" to his peers is chased through a rough neighborhood in sunny Miami.  A drug dealer, Juan (Ali), sees him go to hide in an abandoned apartment and gets him to come out.  Little refuses to speak, not even his name, and so Juan feeds him and gives him a place to sleep for the night.  The boy returns home the next day, but soon finds Juan again and the two become close.  They spend entire days together, learning how to swim and sitting quietly.  Years later as a teenager, Little - real name Chiron (Sanders) - continues to be bullied at school.  He becomes friends with Kevin, but his tormentors force them apart, and Chiron is arrested when he lashes out against them.  Further along in his life, Chiron has taken the nickname "Black", given to him by Kevin, as he falls into the drug dealing of his former mentor and friend.  Now living in Atlanta, Black is haunted by - and still pulled back to - his tumultuous upbringing.

Moonlight features a fairly small cast, with a few supporting characters surrounding Chiron at each of three stages in his life.  The film's focus, first and last, is the gay, black lead character, and so it was essential to find not just three excellent actors but also three who shared many characteristics.  Fortunately, this mission was accomplished.  Young Alex Hibbert is perhaps the most impressive, acting as naturally as I've seen anyone of his age.  Heartbreakingly, he is already quiet and withdrawn as a consequence of his home life and treatment by other boys, and Hibbert's performance pulls you in immediately.  Sanders is very good as well, as teenage Chiron.  He effectively captures the awkwardness of his years combined with further awareness of being gay in society.  This is where Chiron shows the most emotion, but whether in anger or joy, his pain is quite evident.  Finally there is Rhodes who plays the oldest Chiron, further hardened and emotionally crippled by this point that the ability to clearly feel his raw, unresolved inner conflict juxtaposes strongly with his powerful adult physique.  All three actors share the same haunted stare, a chilling symbol that reaches through the years - revealed in under two hours.  The supporting cast is quite strong, too, particularly the great roles for Mahershala Ali as the fatherly drug dealer, Naomie Harris as Chiron's ruined mother, and Andre Holland as an adult (in more ways than one) Kevin.

Moonlight is first and foremost a character study, one that is presented with an interesting mix of realism and abstract artistry.  Taking place over three distinct, brief periods of Chiron's life, there isn't exactly a plot, but more a developing understanding of Chiron over time.  This is done largely by several themes running through all three periods and symbolized by various people in Chiron's life.  The two most influential forces in his life are his broken home life and his homosexuality.  While his mother is tragically incapable of properly raising him (although the undeniable mother-child bond is evident in many moments), Chiron ultimately embraces the lifestyle of his long-gone mentor Juan despite the painful memories it must bring.  Kevin offers a brief but powerful glimpse of what it could mean for Chiron to embrace his sexuality, but this too is taken from him; although in a sense, he unconsciously pushes this happiness away, too.  The way this all is depicted is primarily through ordinary life moments, with particular focus on several of Chiron's crucial relationships.  Fortunately, the pace never falters much, with the changes in time period keeping things fresh.  Even as the film eschews any false dramatic devices, it still filters sounds and images creatively to show their impact on Chiron.  At the end, we get another look at Little, standing at the edge of the ocean and then staring back at us, with eyes through which we have seen a lifetime.

***

Moonlight is yet another great film in the running for Best Picture at this year's Oscars.  It is a powerfully intimate film - in that it is so focused on the main character in every way - and took me a little while to grapple with how I felt about it.  Well, I still am, to tell the truth.  It can feel a little bit too limited in some ways, particularly as it doesn't have any plot, yet at the same time almost too full, as it deals with such big issues including the devastation of drugs, and the experiences of African Americans and homosexuals in modern society.  However, above all Moonlight does an excellent job of illustrating an intriguing, genuine-feeling character via outstanding performances and very good, subtle filmmaking.  A powerful, valuable film to watch, whether in theaters (first came out months ago, but I think my theater got it as part of the Oscar lead up) or at home.




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