Bullied at school and beaten down by a harsh home life, Chiron
risks becoming a statistic: another black man dominated and ultimately
destroyed by the system. Despite his small stature and taciturn nature,
Chiron is a survivor, and, as he grows, it becomes clear that his real
battle isn't even on the streets. It's an internal one: reckoning with
his complex love for his best friend.
MOONLIGHT
takes Chiron from childhood to his teens to adulthood, but it
absolutely defies coming-of-age conventions. Instead of offering a clear
progression of time, Jenkins plunges us into an atmospheric
subjectivity, an impressionistic vision of Chiron's psyche in which
sensuality, pain, and unhealed wounds take centre stage with staggering
power.
Anchored in an unforgettable performance
by emerging talent Trevante Rhodes (as the older Chiron), Moonlight
explores the human need to feel connected. But although its themes could
be called "universal," they are firmly grounded in a specific
understanding of African-American experience. This film was waiting to
be made, and Jenkins was the one to make it.