Saturday, October 29, 2016

Theater Whore: Moonlight


Moonlight 9/10

Last night Cam called and asked if I wanted to go see a movie. Of course I said yes and asked what she had in mind. She said a movie at the Arclight called Moonlight. She said I could see what it was about but I always have fun going in blind with her so I just decided to see it not knowing what it was about, who was in it, or anything. I am glad I did because this ended up being an incredible film. There will be some spoilers but I think in this case and with this movie even if you know a bit more that you should still check it out where you can.


This movie has three chapters. The first is called Little which is the nickname if the main character Chiron (Shy-Ron) played by Alex Hibbert. He is being chased by a group of kids and being called the last thing you want to be called if you are gay and hides inside an abandoned apartment while they throw things at him. He is found by a guy named Juan played by Mahershala Ali that is a drug dealer. Nice guy, but still. Drug dealer. He takes Chiron to get something to eat and try to find out where he lives or even just his name. When that doesn't work he takes him to his place where his girlfriend Teresa played by a super cute Janelle Monáe pries the information out of him. Chiron stays for the night and when Juan takes him home the next day his mother Paula played by Naomie Harris is acting all kinds of strange and shit.


At school Chiron is picked on and his only friend is this kid Kevin. He continues to spend more time with Juan who is pretty much the only adult or adult male he knows that doesn't treat him like shit. Its nice. He also bonds with Teresa. Problems begin when Chiron confirms that Juan sells drugs and that his mother is a drug addict. This leads to chapter two called Chiron where he is played by Ashton Sanders. He is now a teen and life is shit. There's no other way to put it. He gets teased at school for not being hard. His mother is in full crackhead mode. During this time he has his first sexual experience with a boy, his friend Kevin. Pretty much the next day something terrible happens and that is the end of this chapter.


The third and final chapter is called Black and Chiron is now played by an adult Trevante Rhodes. He is living in Georgia now and a hard ass drug dealer. He is pretty much Juan now. He sleeps like shit and and keeps getting calls from his mother asking him to come see her. One night he gets a phone call out of the blue from his old friend Kevin. He decides to head back home and see his mother who apologizes for the way she treated him growing up. Its a sad ass scene. He later meets with Kevin and lets him know that what they did together that night over ten years ago was the first and only time he has ever done that.

This movie was amazing. The music, the acting, and the way it was shot was really good. There were scenes I related to personally and through people I grew up with. It did not feel close to as long as it actually was (150 minutes). The only reason that I gave this a 9 and not a 10 is because as much as I loved this I wouldn't watch it over and over. But I would urge a lot of people to see this movie.

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