Friday, June 18, 2021

Moonlight (2016)

IMDb plot summary: A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
Directed by Barry Jenkins. Starring Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, and Alex R. Hibbert.

I wanted to fall in love with this movie. I love when movies tell the stories of people on the margins in thoughtful and compassionate ways, and this definitely does that. Ultimately, though, while I find the first two thirds of the movie extremely compelling, I struggle a little bit to connect the final third. I can't quite process the ending section and what I'm meant to take away from it the same way I can with the first two. I am completely willing to believe that's a fault on my end rather than the film's, and the lack of ending resolution is quite possibly the only fitting finale this story can take. I wonder a bit if the original play, which had all three segments happening simultaneously, would help it sit more definitively for me. Regardless, even if it didn't quite work for me, others should see it. Chiron's a compelling character, the cinematography is captivating, and it's a story that doesn't get told often.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Moonlight > Fahrenheit 451
Moonlight < Key Largo
Moonlight < Being John Malkovich
Moonlight > Real Life
Moonlight > Rachel, Rachel
Moonlight > Chaos Theory
Moonlight < Cool Hand Luke
Moonlight > Spanglish
Moonlight > American Outlaws
Moonlight > Hoosiers
Moonlight > Logan Lucky
Final spot: #1297 out of 3385, or 62%.

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