You wouldn’t think the story of a boy coming of age could still feel revolutionary.
In film alone, we’ve seen it done through raunchy comedies, tender romances, nostalgic time capsules, and even once in real time. And yet, Barry Jenkins’ new film Moonlight doesn’t feel like just another reincarnation of the same old themes. Exploring ideas of masculinity, sexuality, and strength, the film literally pulses with energy and emotionality as it offers the modern struggles of what it means to grow up and “become a man”. What Jenkins has done is find the extraordinary beauty and heartbreak of an all too ordinary life and in turn created one of the best films of the year.
The film tells the story of Chiron, a young black man in Miami, through three distinct stages of his life. The first section, “Little”, introduces Chiron as a small isolated child (Alex Hibbert) living in a difficult home situation with his single mother (Noamie Harris) and ultimately finds kindness and support from a drug dealer and his wife (Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe). The second, “Chiron”, offers a glimpse at his teenage years (played by Ashton Sanders) as he finds himself grappling with his homosexuality and feelings for his childhood friend Kevin (Jharell Jerome as a teenager), as well as enduring physical abuse from his classmates. The final section, “Black”, shows Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) in his mid-20’s, returning to Miami and being reunited with Kevin (Andre Holland as an adult) for the first time in nearly a decade.
Given the challenges of the triptych format, it is to Jenkins’ credit that the film never feels simply like a disconnected series of vignettes. Writing the script from a story by acclaimed playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, the connective tissue is subtly offered as we watch Chiron adopt the masculine identity he observes as a child. Visually, Jenkins collaborates with director of photography James Laxton to create a stunningly dreamlike and disorienting portrait of Miami filled with rich shades of blue. Moonlight’s ensemble also does impressive work across the board, with all three Chirons offering depth and sensitivity to the films reserved protagonist. Ali, brings charisma and warmth to his scenes with Hibbert, and Harris ably handles the complex arc of Chiron’s mother and her struggle with drug addiction,
If there’s any structural flaw to be found, it’s that the start of the third chapter seems to alter the story a bit too suddenly after a startling act of violence ends the previous one, leading to a brief sense of narrative whiplash. Still the section regains its bearings and while not necessarily at the same nearly flawless level as the first two sections, it does deliver the film to a movingly understated conclusion. Ultimately while many Oscar-bait films try to position themselves as important, the ordinary focus of Moonlight actually makes it feel essential. At a time where toxic masculinity remains a destructive, rampant force in culture, Chiron’s story is one everyone should experience for not just its ideas, but its emotions too.
The film premiered at the New York Film Festival and is Opening Theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on October 21st.
-Nathan Braun
