The amount of experiences we have to process every day is huge. Yet you will have forgotten most of them within a few hours. Do you remember what you ate last Monday? Unless that was a meal which was very special or during a special occasion, you will not be able to remember. The moments that stay with you are those where there was a lot of emotion. If you look back at your own life and at the moments that are important to you, perhaps even decisive, emotion often played a very important role.
Chiron is a small, quiet and insecure boy everyone calls “Little” and is being bullied constantly. When he locks himself into an empty house to escape some bullies he is discovered by Juan (Mahershala Ali), a local drug dealer. He takes him to a restaurant to make him feel at ease, but the boy remains silent. It is only later when they are with his girlfriend that he starts talking. Chiron’s mother (Naomie Harris) is not happy that he has hung around with Juan. As time goes on she becomes addicted and Chiron continues to struggle with himself. As a child, teen and as a grown man.
Moonlight succeeds in giving the viewer an idea what the experiences Chiron go through make him feel. He’s someone who does not talk much and whose emotions sometimes are overwhelming. His experiences make him the person that he is at the end of the film, because of a couple of special (and violent) moments in his life. The three actors who inhabit this character, all portray him in the same way and you don’t doubt for a moment that you’re watching the same character. With a couple of looks, they are able to show a lot of emotion. The film deals with sensitive subjects that play in the community in which Chrion lives. An example is when the drug addicted mother talks to the dealer about the fact that he acts as if he is better than her because he cares for her son, but at the same time also gives her drugs. Homosexuality is another subject. The riveting storyline, beautiful camera work and sometimes dreamy compositions make Moonlight a film which gets under your skin.
Loved this movie and how it shows a different Miami then what people are used to. The writer was at the screening I went to and let us know how the filmmakers had to dull the color to make Liberty City more oppressive.
Side Note: The diner at the end of the movie is Jimmy’s Dinner on Biscayne Blvd and 72nd Street. I’m there almost every weekend either Saturday or Sunday for breakfast.
Yeah, it does. Funny that it was filmed at a place you regularly visit!