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“Who is you, man?” Dramatic film has long been fascinated with issues of identity, but they’ve rarely been explored with the degree of eloquence and heartbreaking beauty as in Barry Jenkins ’ masterful “Moonlight,” one of the essential American films of 2016. “Moonlight” is a film that is both lyrical and deeply grounded in its character work, a balancing act that’s breathtaking to behold. It is one of those rare pieces of filmmaking that stays completely focused on its characters while also feeling like it’s dealing with universal themes about identity, sexuality, family, and, most of all, masculinity. And yet it’s never preachy or moralizing. It is a movie in which deep, complex themes are reflected through character first and foremost. Jenkins’ film is confident in every single aspect of the way that a critic can use that word. Every performance, every shot choice, every piece of music, every lived-in setting—it’s one of those rare movies that just doesn’t take a wrong step, and climaxes in a scene not of CGI or twists but of dialogue that is one of the best single scenes in years.

The protagonist of “Moonlight” reflects the conflicted and fluid masculinity of young African-American men in the United States, even in just the way he’s presented. The film is divided into three chapters—“Little,” “Chiron” and “Black”—the three names used to refer to the same person that we follow from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. He’s a boy and then a man who has trouble figuring out his place in the world, which is also articulated by the character being played by three separate, all-remarkable actors.

The film starts with Chiron as a boy, referred to by his bullies as “Little” ( Alex R. Hibbert ). We meet this youngster running, trying to hide in a boarded up apartment from the kids who want to beat him up. Little is found there by Juan ( Mahershala Ali , doing career-best work), a local drug dealer. Juan takes the kid out to eat, even bringing him back to his place, where he meets his partner Teresa ( Janelle Monáe ). Little could use this makeshift family. His dad is gone and his mother Paula ( Naomie Harris ) happens to be one of Juan’s best clients. Juan becomes something of a father figure, but that might make this relationship sound more predictable than it is. Juan sees something good in Chiron and wants to help this quiet boy, even as he provides the product that’s ruining his home life.

The film jumps to Chiron as a teenager, dealing with more intense bullying and questions about sexuality. These are the years in which everyone claims to be sleeping around and a young man like Chiron (now played by Ashton Sanders ) struggles to find himself, especially now that all semblance of a normal home life is gone. He literally has nothing, and it takes kindness from his friend Kevin (played by Jharrel Jerome at this age) to bring him comfort. But even that is turned in a time, place and age in which compassion is sorely lacking, when young men believe that violence is the answer to what will make them feel better or allow them to fit in.

Finally, we meet Chiron as a young adult, played with remarkable subtlety by Trevante Rhodes . Kevin (now played by André Holland of “The Knick”) reaches out to a very-different Chiron, and the film’s themes coalesce in a surprisingly emotionally resonant way without monologues or heavy-handed melodrama. In a sense, “Moonlight” is a coming-of-age story about a boy often overlooked by society, that little kid not cool enough to hang with the bigger ones and without the support of a family to keep him from simply disappearing into the night.

The trio of performances that make up Chiron from Hibbert/Sanders/Rhodes are perfectly calibrated by Jenkins, who directs them to feel not like imitations of each other but express growth. We can see the sad eyes of Chiron as a boy reflected in Chiron as a man. “Moonlight” could have easily felt episodic, especially with three actors playing the same character, but it’s stunning how much it never falters in that regard. Jenkins’ work with his ensemble creates consistency from chapter to chapter, even as the cast changes as often as it does. Jenkins also draws great turns from Harris and Ali, playing two of the most influential people in Chiron’s life.

Jenkins and his technical team shoot Miami in a way that we don’t often see, using their setting brilliantly, especially the way that the water and the beach around it can feel like a break from the troubles of the real world. But “Moonlight” is a film about faces. Chiron’s eyes say so much that this young man has not been taught how to express. He is young, black, gay, poor, and largely friendless—the kind of person who feels like he could literally vanish from being so unseen by the world. During one of the film’s many memorable dialogue exchanges (written by Jenkins, adapted from a play by Tarell McCraney ), Chiron speaks of crying so much in his life that he feels like he could simply turn to liquid and roll into the ocean.

While there’s memorable dialogue in “Moonlight,” it’s what’s unsaid that really resonates. It’s the look of a morally complex father figure when a child asks him why other kids call him a bad word. It’s a nervous glance between two young men who know something is a little different about their relationship but society has given them no words to express it. And it’s in the final scenes of the film—in which Jenkins knows he’s laid the groundwork, trusts his actors and allows the emotions of what’s unsaid to provide the dramatic thrust—that “Moonlight” makes its greatest impact. Jenkins deeply understands that it is human connection that forms us, that changes our trajectory and makes us who we are. 

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

• Naomie Harris as Paula
• Alex R. Hibbert as Little
• Duan’Sandy’ Sanderson as Azu
• Shariff Earp as Terrence
• Janelle Monáe as Teresa
• André Holland as Kevin
• Mahershala Ali as Juan
• Barry Jenkins

Cinematographer

• James Laxton
• Joi McMillon
• Nat Sanders

Composer (music by)

• Nicholas Britell

Writer (story)

• Tarell McCraney

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Moonlight Reviews

Jenkins doesn’t rely on pity to make Moonlight dramatically engaging. Instead, he pours out an aura of compassion that naturally renders this film poignant. On top of that, the cinematography and lighting is exhilarating in this film.

Full Review | Aug 8, 2024

Moonlight is filmmaking poetry, and a perfect movie.

Full Review | Jun 18, 2024

A profoundly moving coming-of-age portrait of a young Black man throughout various stages of his life as he explores his sexuality and who he fundamentally is.

Full Review | Oct 23, 2023

Widely regarded as one of the most intimate and well-made movies of all time, Moonlight is nothing short of a masterpiece, every element coming together to create an experience that can be appreciated by all.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 6, 2023

It is so clear that Jenkins is paying respect to the people he knew growing up and the boy he was. Moonlight is honest and open, exactly what a movie of this type should be.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

Beautifully shot, dynamically acted, and with a magnificent score, it is the type of film that only grows more emotionally potent as time passes.

Full Review | Jul 12, 2023

Jenkins portrays a world so often fetishized and reduced to its most violent outcomes from the inside, with tenderness and Wong Kar-wai’s influence on his cinematic sleeve.

Full Review | Jun 21, 2023

There are very few coming-of-age films that are more delicate, intimate, and utterly bewitching than Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight.

Full Review | Jun 14, 2023

Gorgeous to look at and accompanied by an exquisite soundtrack.

Full Review | Apr 20, 2023

The film is a stunning portrayal of a young black man at three stages of his life and features sizzling performances by an amazing ensemble cast and lush cinematography by James Laxton.

Full Review | Dec 21, 2022

The director's filmmaking radiates a poetry in his storytelling and visual aesthetic, creating a film that resonates with the viewer in the head and heart.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 9, 2022

Ending as enigmatically as it begins, Moonlight is a film about the lives that slip between the cracks. Its unmissable.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 21, 2022

Moonlight is one of the very best films of the year so far. It is a reminder that despite background, geographic location, race, or sexual orientation, everyone seeks comfort, shelter, someone, and a space in which we can truly be ourselves.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 14, 2022

The cinematic treatment leaves this diminutive urban story feeling grand, classical and majestic.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 2, 2021

A refreshing, bracing break from not just what Hollywood churns out, but also from the awards-driven independent films that dominate the end of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Aug 28, 2021

Black lives matter in the quiet, contemplative Moonlight, but let's not stop there.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 18, 2021

A majestic film of gentle moments and pregnant silences.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 28, 2021

What makes Moonlight so amazing is that it almost shouldn't work at all. It is a character study with no lead actor.

Full Review | Apr 13, 2021

Moonlight displays the kind of empathy and humanity that we desperately need right now.

Full Review | Feb 17, 2021

A movie that beats with a very human heart while subverting expectations with almost every scene.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 3, 2021

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‘Moonlight’: Is This the Year’s Best Movie?

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By A.O. Scott

• Oct. 20, 2016

To describe “Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins’s second feature, as a movie about growing up poor, black and gay would be accurate enough. It would also not be wrong to call it a movie about drug abuse, mass incarceration and school violence. But those classifications are also inadequate, so much as to be downright misleading. It would be truer to the mood and spirit of this breathtaking film to say that it’s about teaching a child to swim, about cooking a meal for an old friend, about the feeling of sand on skin and the sound of waves on a darkened beach, about first kisses and lingering regrets. Based on the play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” by Tarell Alvin McCraney , “Moonlight” is both a disarmingly, at times almost unbearably personal film and an urgent social document, a hard look at American reality and a poem written in light, music and vivid human faces.

The stanzas consist of three chapters in the life of Chiron, played as a wide-eyed boy by Alex Hibbert, as a brooding adolescent by Ashton Sanders and as a mostly grown man by Trevante Rhodes. The nature and meaning of manhood is one of Mr. Jenkins’s chief concerns. How tough are you supposed to be? How cruel? How tender? How brave? And how are you supposed to learn?

Anatomy of a Scene | ‘Moonlight’

Barry jenkins narrates a swimming sequence from “moonlight” featuring alex hibbert and mahershala ali..

Chiron’s initiation into such questions seems to be through fear and confusion. We first encounter him on the run, fleeing from a bunch of other kids who want to beat him up. Chiron is smaller than most of them — his humiliating nickname is Little — and vulnerably different in other ways as well.

His effort to understand this difference — to work out the connection between the schoolyard homophobia of his peers and his own confused desires — is one of the tracks along which his episodic chronicle proceeds. Another, equally painful and equally complicated, is Chiron’s relationship with his mother, Paula (Naomie Harris), who slides from casual crack smoking into desperate addiction.

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Moonlight Is a Film of Uncommon Grace

Barry Jenkins’s gorgeous movie, which charts the coming-of-age tale of a black man in Miami, is one of the best of the year.

Like all great films, Moonlight is both specific and sweeping. It’s a story about identity—an intelligent, challenging work that wants viewers to reflect on assumptions they might make about the characters. It’s also a focused and personal work, a mental odyssey about the youth, adolescence, and adulthood of Chiron, who is growing up gay and black in Miami. From start to finish, the director Barry Jenkins’s new film balances the scope of its ambitions: The story weaves random memories and crucial life experiences into a tapestry, one that tries to unlock the shielded heart of its protagonist.

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In short, Moonlight demands to be seen, even though the film is about a man who desperately wants to keep the audience at arm’s length. Inspired by the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Jenkins’s movie is a meditation on growing up, and the ways we all try to prevent ourselves from standing out or getting hurt. There’s insight to Moonlight that should pierce viewers to their core, even if Chiron’s life is very different from their own. This is not an “issue” film that’s mainly “about” race or sexuality; this is a humane movie, one that’s looking to prompt empathy and introspection most of all. On those terms alone, Moonlight is one of the year’s most gripping viewing experiences.

It’s been eight years since the release of Jenkins’s debut feature Medicine For Melancholy , itself a clever work about identity. That film followed a black couple wandering the streets of San Francisco after a one-night stand, pondering the gentrifying city and whether people of color could still find a place in it. Moonlight feels more personal for Jenkins, who was born and raised in Liberty City, Miami, the predominantly African American neighborhood in which the film is set. He’s stated that Chiron’s story is not his own, but the film has an incredible sense of place all the same. The movie begins with a casual conversation between two drug dealers on an abandoned block, then cuts to a young Chiron (Alex Hibbert), a boy taunted with the nickname “Little,” who’s hiding out from bullies in an empty, boarded-up apartment building.

Moonlight veers away from the gritty stereotypes its setting might suggest; in fact, this film deliberately rejects the visual markers viewers might anticipate in such a tale. Liberty City is bright and often colorful, even at its most dilapidated. When Chiron is rescued by Juan (Mahershala Ali), one of the drug dealers shown cruising around in a vintage Cadillac, the boy is taken to Juan’s suburban-ish home, and later to the beach, where Juan cradles him in the water to try and teach him how to swim. Juan quickly realizes that Chiron doesn’t need to be forced or coddled into opening up emotionally—he just needs space to be himself. At every juncture, Juan tries to dissuade the boy from accepting whatever lot he’s handed by his tormenters, or by his crack-addicted mother Paula (a frightening, and wonderful, Naomie Harris).

Ali’s incredible performance in Moonlight ’s first third gives it its human core; Jenkins has no interest in upending, or affirming, the audience’s preconceived notions of how a drug dealer might behave. Juan is presented as an entire person because that’s exactly who he is—everyone in this movie is presented in the same three-dimensional fashion, even as they make decisions that break Chiron’s heart. More than anything, Juan tries to impress upon the boy that his outward appearance, and how the world sees him, isn’t everything. During his swimming lesson, Juan relays a memory of an old woman seeing him on the beach at night and saying, “In the moonlight, black boys look blue! You’re blue!”

In some of the film’s most important moments, Jenkins literally bathes his characters in that baleful, blue light, stripping them of whatever disguises they might unwittingly wear in the daytime. As a teenager (played by Ashton Sanders), Chiron is still awkward, still burdened by his mother, and perhaps only slightly more aware of his sexuality. When a nighttime flirtation with a friend turns sexual, Jenkins stages the action on a beach under the full moon, turning that intimate moment into something that feels at once exclusive to the couple and yet utterly universal.

There is tragedy at the heart of Moonlight , and the film is not an easy watch at times, partly because it delves so deeply into its protagonist’s haunted psyche. The movie’s final chapter, where viewers see the man who Chiron becomes (played by Trevante Rhodes), and his reunion with his childhood friend, feels like an utter surprise when it begins. But after 20 minutes with the characters, it’s clear why they ended up where they did. This cohesiveness is a remarkable achievement for a film that compresses a life story into three episodic segments, each running about 40 minutes. To say more would be to spoil a singular journey suffused with melancholy and hope, emotions that Jenkins communicates through the screen with uncommon grace. The result is a film that is one of the most essential of the year, and one whose depth rewards repeated viewings.

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2024 Horror Movie With 96% Rotten Tomatoes Score Becomes Streaming Hit

Naboo explained: why padmé amidala & palpatine's homeworld is so important, gladiator 2 early reaction promises much more violence than the russell crowe original, moonlight  is one of the most poignant, poetic and beautiful movies of the year..

As a kid growing up in Miami, Chiron is withdrawn, introverted and frequently picked upon by his peers for reasons that he doesn't understand. Upon a chance encounter, Chiron crosses paths with a crack dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali) - who proceeds to take the young boy under his wing, in the absence of Chiron's father and with his mother Paula (Naomie Harris) struggling to care for herself, much less her son. Over time, however, Chiron grows up into a troubled teenager, still bullied by other students and struggling to forge an identity for himself.

Years later as an adult, Chiron lives in Atlanta and makes his way as a drug dealer, earning himself the nickname of "Black" thanks to his intimidating manner and physique. However, when a chance for Chiron to rekindle ties with his childhood friend Kevin (André Holland) presents itself, so too does the opportunity arise for Chiron to find something he has long yearned for: a chance to live the life that he truly wants for himself.

Barry Jenkins hasn't served as the director on a feature-length movie in the eight years since the release of his acclaimed directorial debut,  Medicine for Melancholy , in 2008 - having instead worked on a number of short films, over that period of time. As suggested by his efforts on  Moonlight , the filmmaker has also spent the past decade or so honing his craft as a storyteller, in order to deliver one of the true critical darlings of 2016. The praise is well-deserved here too as, put simply?  Moonlight is one of the most poignant, poetic and beautiful movies of the year.

Moonlight , which Jenkins wrote based on the play  In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, is divided into three acts titled "Little", "Chiron" and "Black", corresponding to the name/nickname that Chiron goes by in the different stages of his life - all three of which make for engaging and compelling coming of age stories, even taken on their own. Together as a whole, this narrative structure allows the film to create a snapshot of Chiron's life that fully encompasses how he is shaped by the important events that happen to him, in an (sometimes uncomfortably) intimate yet insightful and meaningful fashion. Jenkins favors a show-don't-tell approach here, allowing for more intimation on the part of the audience and trusting that they can fill in the blanks without needing heavy-handed exposition to bring them up to speed at where Chrion is at in his life, at any given moment in the film.

The three actors who play Chiron in Moonlight - Alex Hibbert as the young "Little", Trevante Rhodes as the grown-up "Black" and Ashton Sanders as the teenaged Chiron - further help to establish the sense that the film is following the continuous evolution of the same human being, though their performances. This allows Moonlight to seamlessly illustrate how Chiron goes from being a soft-spoken child to sensitive teenager and then an adult, whose macho posturing and hardened exterior come off as natural defensive responses to his past (and even a quiet reflection of his only father figure). Moonlight is all the more effective as a thematically-layered character study for it, allowing it to sensitively shine a light on the plight of a social outcast not often depicted in mainstream film;  at the same time, exploring themes of masculine identity, as well as the shortcomings of traditional definitions for masculinity.

Moonlight  brings Chiron's tale to visually-poetic life through gorgeous lighting and raw cinematic imagery (captured with indie film-style long takes and handheld camerawork) - though some of the most dramatic and emotionally-charged moments are photographed in a more polished, yet equally striking way. This makes the movie's world feel vibrant, alive and sometimes even volatile, like the Chiron character himself. Jenkins and his director of photography, James Laxton ( Camp X-Ray ) make frequent use of closeups to further ensure that the scope of the film remains intimate and personal (even during its most intense and visceral sequences) and that the movie itself is a somewhat literal portrait of Chiron's life. Moonlight 's visuals are complimented by its use of an eclectic soundtrack that includes a classical-style score composed by Nicholas Britell ( Free State of Jones ), as well as retro tunes and contemporary pop songs.

The supporting cast here also does its part to make Jenkins' film something special. Mahershala Ali (who, between Moonlight and Luke Cage , is having quite a year) and André Holland deliver soulful and, at times, even heartbreaking performances as Chiron's protector/would-be father figure and his first lover in Moonlight , respectively. Naomie Harris as Chiron's drug-addicted mother, Paula, threatens to come off as an abusive parent cliche at first, but develops into a fully-formed and believable character over the course of the film, thanks to the combination of sensitive writing and Harris' performance. Janelle Monáe as Juan's girlfriend, Theresa, is somewhat under-used but makes for a kindly and charismatic presence during her few scenes with the Chiron character.

Thematically rich and anchored by quietly-powerful performances, Moonlight is simply a terrific movie in addition to being an impressive creative accomplishment for Jenkins - one that resonates by pulling viewers into the feelings and experiences of its protagonist, in the process delivering a subtle gut-punch that lingers well after the final credits are done rolling. Its arthouse sensibilities mean the film won't be to everyone's tastes, but those who are intrigued to find out what all the talk is about (and/or want to keep up on their awards season viewing): Moonlight is a must-watch.

Moonlight is now playing in a limited theatrical release. It is 110 minutes long and is Rated R for some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and language throughout.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section!

Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, Moonlight follows Chiron (Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, and Alex Hibbert) during three stages of his life, starting in childhood and progressing all the way up through adulthood. The film explores themes of identity and sexuality, chronicling Chiron's life as a gay black man growing up in Miami to an abusive, drug-addicted mother. 

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