I’m always rather sceptical of Best Picture winners. After last year’s ceremony saw Green Book of all films pick up the yearly accolade, my mini project of darting back and viewing the Best Picture winners I had missed was starting to feel like a rather large waste of time. Moonlight was one of the few that instilled a little bit of confidence in me, the Barry Jenkins adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, In Moonlight, Black Boys Look Blue. Jenkins and McCraney team up together to bring us this adaptation, told in three acts detailing the story of Chiron, a boy struggling to find himself.
If it weren’t for the strong direction from Jenkins and his attentive detail, utilising colour, contrast and grading tremendously well, then it’d be easy to write off Moonlight as yet another coming of age piece. Hollywood loves their coming of age stories, about how one leading character traverses the difficulties of their existence. Moonlight short changes us in that regard, and rightfully so. We do indeed follow the life of one character contemplating their sexuality, place in society and class, but the musings on such ideas are varyingly interesting and supported by a strong group of characters.
Chiron is a great leading character, and audiences should have no trouble latching onto him or his life. It’s presented in such vivid detail, Moonlight dabbles in issues that have been dissected and discussed in hundreds of films, but is one of the few to do so in engrossing detail or with actual care. Trevante Rhodes dominates his scenes as Chiron, taking centre stage in a story told within three acts. Each act has its unique stand out performance. Mahershala Ali is a marvellous figure within the first act, providing emotional support and ballast for a young Chiron, whilst in the second act, Naomie Harris takes centre stage as a superb plot device. Each supporting character feels so incredibly crucial to the film, it bolsters Chiron’s growth as a character with spectacular results.
Moonlight signals a thankful normalisation of coming of age stories. Between this and the working-class deprivation of The Florida Project, modern American cinema is carving out a comfortable niche of tremendously upsetting yet thoroughly heartfelt pieces. Barry Jenkins’ direction and strong utilisation of colour makes Moonlight a truly breathtaking film to behold. Steadily directing us through a touching story of self-discovery, the film is more than deserving of the various best picture accolades it has been lauded with. One of the few that actually feels worth the watch, a film that doesn’t get bogged down in contemporary reference or callous exposure to Hollywood trends.
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