Moonlight (2016)

As humans living on Earth everyone is searching for something.  Many of us are focused on what our purpose in the world truly is.  While the answer to that seems to elude everyone the one facet of ourselves we work on until we go into that long eternal sleep is our identity.  Who are we and how do we fit into this world?  Growing up as an individual with cerebral palsy I knew I entered this world at a disadvantage.  Because I had a physical disability I always had to catch up in life skill.  I wondered constantly what am I capable of and how do I achieve it given my circumstances?  Who am I supposed to be?  Will who I am ever be good enough for people to see me beyond external appearances?  These are the central questions behind the film from writer/director Barry Jenkins in his film Moonlight.

Moonlight invites us into the life of Chiron and how he navigates the drug infested low income part of Miami Florida that he lives in.  Chiron is shown at three different stages in his life.  We see his life and how he lives as a child, teenager, and adult.  What he experiences in those three time frames shapes how he views and interacts with the world as a man.  Though this premise may sound plain and basic the director puts a lot of depth and personality into Chiron and every person he comes into contact with.  The character feels lived in because the life was lived in part by the director himself.  It’s organic. It’s natural.  Everything about what happens in this movie feels like a lived in work and I can only say is that plot is just an etching of the fine details that are layered within this work.

To be honest no actor gives a performance in this film.  All three of the different versions of Chiron move through scenes just as one person navigating the world and it is tremendous.  Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert and Trevante Rhodes all break your heart in various and beautiful ways it just shocks a person into living.  Mahershala Ali as Juan plays such a complicated level of gray in terms of being a part of a shady business but also being a surrogate father to Chiron is so traumatizing because you don’t know whether the character is safe with Juan.  What does love feel like for Chiron because of his experiences with Juan?  Seeing that answer play out transcends written description.  Naomi Harris as Chiron’s mother does so much work in the few scenes work in the few scenes we spend time with the character.  It’s extremely difficult not to look down on that person or judge her based on the paths she chose.  I chose to respect her regardless of what choices she made and it took all that I had not to become emotional over how she treated Chiron.  There is another character vital to the story named Kevin and his relationship with Chiron is extremely key to how Chiron sees himself and how he may or may not be accepted in life.  Because of these characters and the environment they were navigating I left this emotionally raw, empty and questioning my own identity.

Identity is something every character in this film has either tried to find or are still searching for.  This movie is not dependent on dialogue; instead body language is the real visual language that fills the chapters of this story.   Boys are always told what it takes to be a man and in this movie there are no life lessons just experiences that inform the life the characters are trying to live.  Chiron is trying to define what it takes to be a man.  Juan is trying his best to identify what it means to help someone.  Kevin is struggling to discover what it takes to truly be himself and not have to hide from the world.

Moonlight isn’t just a good film, it’s an important one.  For anyone who feels unheard or silenced by the world, this film tells your story.  If you’re still working out what life means and who you want to be this film speaks your language.  If you feel alone and scared about the future because the past was difficult this film reminds you that you never have to be.  This film isn’t for everyone but it is about everyone at any stage of self-discovery in their lives and that is why this film is art that will stand the test of time.  Moonlight illuminates the darkness everyone faces in life just like it like it shines light on the darkest parts of the earth.