We follow the story of Chiron, a meek boy who is raised in the rougher parts of Miami. His mother a drug addict and his classmates a constant source of bullying. The story is broken down into three concise chapters that tell specific stories pertaining to his identity. Chapter 1 is titled "little," where young Chiron is discovered in an abandoned building by a local drug dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali, a great performance). For the first time in his life, Chiron has a father-figure who he can look up to and seek guidance amidst the lack of support from his mother. Chapter 2 is "chiron," where we find a lanky Chiron navigating a solitary life of high school. One night, he has an intimate encounter with his friend Kevin, an act that boils to a breaking point the next day in class. Chapter 3 ("black") concludes the tale with a hardened Chiron, muscular and menacing as a front, works as a drug dealer and reuniting with Kevin after years apart.
The movie is wonderfully-written and these characters become people we can identify with if only because they have dealt with pain and loss in their lives. There is truth in their words. Chiron, a young boy who keeps his head down and speaks little, finds a voice through Juan and his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe). Contrasted to his life at home with his mom (Naomie Harris in a surefire Oscar nomination), Chiron begins to see that life is not only a place of torment. There are people out there who can make life worth living.
The craft on this film is exceptional. The camera is in a constant state of motion and tightly-focuses on our characters with so much out of focus that their worlds become a state of confusion and disorientation. The first shot of the film is a simple scene, where Juan meets with a dealer and finds out how things are going. He soon leaves. A simple shot would have sufficed, framing both characters in medium. The camera instead whirls around these two men, floating through the street and immersing us in a the scene that is unexpected and memorable. It's the little things that count. The music, a combination of classical and choral, contrasts the images we see on screen and somehow heightens the emotions.
The story, amidst characters and interactions, ultimately boils down to the relationship between Chiron and Kevin. In part one he is little more than a childhood friend (and in fact I had to check to make sure it was the same character in all three instances), and by the end we see him as an adult with just as many bottled emotions as Chiron. Though the two boys start off relatively similar, the finale shows the way that paths of life can diverge and flow. One of the final scenes is a simple scene where Chiron seeks Kevin out at his diner, where Kevin has promised to cook dinner. The exchanging of glances and the way the camera idly drifts in and out of the conversation is simply beautiful. Chiron has worked to build up his body and physique to appear intimidating, maybe threatening, but when he speaks with Kevin we catch glimpses of the shy little boy from the top of the story. For having 3 separate actors, the consistency of Chiron's personality is a crowning achievement in a film so full of great aspects.
It's hard to put into words a movie that is so good that nothing can accurately describe. The perfect words have already been written in the script, and talking about the movie simply does nothing to improve on the fact. All I can say, wholeheartedly, is that you must make time to see "Moonlight" sooner rather than later. It's that good.
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