{"id":4349,"date":"2025-08-01T01:28:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T05:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=4349"},"modified":"2026-10-27T10:46:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T14:46:03","slug":"moonlight-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=4349","title":{"rendered":"Moonlight-2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moonlight-2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Barry Jenkins<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Trevante Rhodes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 250 Films #167<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #512<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"80121348\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed November 6, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moonlight (2016) is an excellent film rich in character and grit. It follows one man’s life from childhood through his teenage years to adulthood, showing the bonds he forms and the demons he wrestles with.<\/p>\n

The acting is fantastic, and the story is poignant and truthful.<\/p>\n

The film isn’t preachy; instead, it tells a story, leaving the audience to sit, observe, and quietly form their own opinions.<\/p>\n

Moonlight is a mixture of beauty and heartbreak and is told very well.<\/p>\n

The film is divided into three chronological chapters that describe the central character’s life.<\/p>\n

Chiron is a shy, docile young boy of six or seven living in the drug-filled world of Miami, Florida, in the 1980s. He is bullied for being “different,” though he does not know why he is shunned. Chiron is introverted and distrustful.<\/p>\n

A kind-hearted drug dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali) takes a shine to Chiron, whose own mother becomes more and more absent and emotionally abusive to her son.<\/p>\n

Naomie Harris plays Paula, Chiron’s mother, who is a drug addict. Juan and his girlfriend Theresa (Janelle Monae) become surrogate parents to Chiron and share their home with him as needed.<\/p>\n

Chapter two focuses on Chiron as a teenager, still bullied and coming to terms with his sexuality and feelings of insecurity. By this time, his mother has spiraled out of control, and his life is a sad one.<\/p>\n

He is filled with emotions such as rage, despair, and confusion. An experience with his best friend, Kevin, changes the direction of his life. Kevin is his saving grace and a decent person amidst his troubled life.<\/p>\n

In chapter three, we are re-introduced to Chiron as an adult, having wholly reinvented himself and become a changed man, but is he changed for better or worse?<\/p>\n

People from his past resurface, and Chiron must face demons and emotions, coming to terms with himself and the people around him.<\/p>\n

Does his story have a sad or a happy ending? This is the question we are left wondering.<\/p>\n

What impressed me most is the storytelling and the ground this film broke.<\/p>\n

From an LGBTQ+ perspective, by this time (2016), we have seen numerous offerings on the subject.<\/p>\n

Still, Moonlight is not only a character study but a love story between two Black men, and nothing like this has been done to this degree in cinema, or arguably at all, especially in mainstream fare.<\/p>\n

Happily, Moonlight is receiving critical praise. The fact that Chiron lives in a macho, male-driven society makes his self-acceptance all the more challenging for him.<\/p>\n

Moonlight’s direction is impressive, and director Barry Jenkins deserves much praise.<\/p>\n

Quiet scenes of Chiron as a boy asking Juan and Theresa why the bullies call him a specific name are heartbreaking.<\/p>\n

Another scene, muted and in slow motion, reveals an abusive Paula calling Chiron a degrading name, leaving him confused and hurt.<\/p>\n

The tender scenes between Chiron and Kevin are sweet and passionate, told on a human level.<\/p>\n

Moonlight delves into loneliness and self-identity. It is an interesting film for anyone who has struggled with these issues or is empathetic to those who have.<\/p>\n

Moonlight (2016) breaks stereotypes and molds a subtle and low-key film that speaks volumes.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 3 wins-<\/strong>Best Picture (won)<\/strong>, Best Director-Barry Jenkins, Best Supporting Actor-Mahershala Ali (won)<\/strong>, Best Supporting Actress-Naomie Harris, Best Adapted Screenplay (won)<\/strong>, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing<\/p>\n

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 6 wins-<\/strong>Best Feature (won)<\/strong>, Best Director-Barry Jenkins (won)<\/strong>, Best Screenplay (won)<\/strong>, Best Cinematography (won)<\/strong>, Best Editing (won)<\/strong>, Robert Altman Award (won)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moonlight-2016 Director Barry Jenkins Starring Trevante Rhodes Top 250 Films #167 Scott’s Review #512 Reviewed November 6, 2016 Grade: A Moonlight (2016) is an excellent film rich in character and grit. It follows one man’s life from childhood through his teenage years to adulthood, showing the bonds he forms and the demons he wrestles with. … Continue reading Moonlight-2016<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[280,356,42,192,362,41,211,339,122,7464],"tags":[7807,6183,4628,6184,6182,6114,6186,3907,2286,6185],"class_list":["post-4349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-movie-reviews","category-best-feature-independent-spirit-award","category-bestpictureoscar","category-dramas","category-favorite-film-of-the-year","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-lgbt-dramas","category-gay-films","category-top-250-films","tag-167-favorite-film","tag-alex-r-hibbert","tag-andre-holland","tag-ashton-sanders","tag-barry-jenkins","tag-janelle-monae","tag-jharrel-jerome","tag-mahershala-ali","tag-naomie-harris","tag-trevante-rhodes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4349"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24945,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4349\/revisions\/24945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}