Moonlight (2016)

In a world where the movie industry is saturated with action packed drivel with no real emotional impact going any further than witnessing a shallow romance Moonlight felt like a breath of fresh air. The movie really gives a sense of devastation at its very core throughout as we follow this young black boy grow into man in such an environment where he is unable to be himself and is forced into a cage of insecurity due to the bullying he receives growing up as a closeted gay man. You can't help but feel absolutely distraught every time little is kicked or pushed or yelled at by everyone from his peers to his own mother. This story really hit me deep down as a gay person myself I related so heavily to little that every bit of abuse he received I felt as if it was me being bullied alongside him. Moonlight made me feel unlike any other movie I've ever watched and I think is one of the most emotional pieces of drama I've ever witnessed. It effortlessly touches on so many social issues such as poverty, homophobia, domestic abuse, drug abuse etc... and does it without once feeling heavy handed. The colour pallet throughout is immaculate often directly portraying the tone and cadence of a scene to represent the protagonist's struggles throughout. The structure the movie chooses to take is also very interesting with us watching 3 different people play the same character at different ages with everyone feeling plausible both in looks and performance as their previous younger portrayal. I think one scene in particular where adult Chiron is speaking with his mum in some form of a care home really stuck with me. We see in this scene just how much his mum feels as if she has failed Chiron and to an extent she has, neglecting him and even abusing him with the primary motivation of getting her next fix of drugs. This scene to me is devastating on two levels both for Chiron as he struggles to reconcile with his mum and not feel that great anger for him but also for the mum herself who now has nothing but regrets for what she's done that she will now have to live with the for whatever amount of time she has left. The movie also manages to not feel overly depressing by ending on quite a positive note which i think is a great decision for this movie in particular as a depressing ending would've left a more bitter taste afterwards for me personally. Overall, I'd say moonlight is well worth the 2-hour run time and that, if possible, everyone should get a chance to watch it as I think it is universally moving even for those who aren't queer or black or share any similarities with the characters within it.