This film festival favorite was a difficult drama for me to watch, though it did get better and better.  It is a very realistic glimpse of life in a crime-ridden area of Miami, focusing on a handful of black and Latino characters.  It is a story told in three acts, years apart, as its main character evolves from “Little” to “Chiron” to “Black.”  What made it difficult for me?  The language, for starters.  I don’t care if the n-word is used almost affectionately among its characters; it’s an awful, despicable term that always offends me when- and wherever it is used.  The first chapter also presents Little (Alex Hibbard) as an abused, or at least neglected, child, and that was difficult to watch.

Barry Jenkins’ film is very dark, yet somewhat hopeful.  The first act presents Little as a child neglected by his mother, Paula (Noemie Harris), but befriended by local drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali) and his wife Teresa (Janelle Monai).  As a teenager, Chiron (Ashton Sanders) has even more issues with his mother and he is still bullied at school.  During this act, however, he finds a friend in Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) before having that friendship used against him.  He finally takes a stand that will change his life.  The third act, ten years later, finds Black (Trevante Rhodes) in Atlanta, following in Juan’s footsteps, when an unexpected call from Kevin (Andre Holland) offers him another chance to discover who he really is.

As difficult as the first third of the film was for me, Jenkins’ film builds on that foundation to construct an amazingly real and affecting drama about an introverted young man whose path seems predestined.  The story builds the case that one’s past shapes one’s future in defined, nearly incontrovertible ways — unless something happens, or someone special comes along to redirect one’s path in a new direction.  That such a path opens for Chiron / Black is the story’s small miracle, with the real question being whether he is brave enough to take the path being opened to him.

Jenkins’ film, for which he wrote the screenplay from a story by Tarell McCraney, is not stylish in the usual way.  Long takes, slow pace and closeups are the order of the day, which is most unusual for a modern film.  But the style perfectly fits the manner in which the story develops, and intensifies the spotlight on character.  Suspense is sustained after the incident which closes the second act, as I constantly wondered whether Black would react with violence to the caller from the past.  The other major theme is sexuality, which is never presented graphically, but is nevertheless crucial to the story.

Moonlight (an ambiguous title I didn’t really understand) is, admittedly, a film far removed from those I regularly view.  Because of its language and abuse it took me quite a while to warm to its story.  The fact that different actors fill the main roles at different times is somewhat jarring, too.  Ultimately, however, I was won over by the sensitivity and depth this movie plumbs, especially in its third act.  It’s not a movie for everyone, but I do recommend it.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  20 November 2016.