MOONLIGHT Movie Review- REEL IT IN

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• published: 08 Nov 2016
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Moonlight is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, with a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney, and stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali. i: Little Shy and withdrawn Chiron (Alex Hibbert), dubbed "Little" for his meek personality and size, is chased into an abandoned motel by a pack of bullies. He is later found by Juan (Mahershala Ali), a crack dealer, who takes him to his house with his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe). After feeding him dinner and letting him spend the night, Chiron begins to open up to them. The next morning, Juan delivers Chiron back to his controlling and emotionally abusive mother Paula (Naomie Harris), who grounds him for not returning home the previous day. The only other person Chiron seems to find comfort and companionship in is his best friend Kevin (Jaden Piner), and their sexuality begins to bud when they stay after a dancing class during school to show their penises to each other. Chiron and Juan continue spending more time together, the latter teaching Chiron how to swim while advising him to make his own path in life. One night, Juan notices one of his customers smoking crack in a nearby car with Paula, who is revealed to be his girlfriend. Juan berates Paula for smoking crack while Paula rebuffs him for selling it to her. Nonetheless ashamed, she takes out her frustrations on Chiron. The next morning, while talking with Juan and Teresa, Chiron admits his hatred for his mother. After confronting Juan about being a drug dealer - and consequently selling to his addicted mother - Chiron leaves. ii: Chiron Now a teenager, Chiron (now played by Ashton Sanders) is frequently bullied, harassed and openly threatened by one of his peers, Terrel (Patrick Decile), though he continues to remain close to Kevin (now played by Jharrel Jerome). Paula has since become addicted to crack, solicits herself, and physically coerces him to give her money given to him by Teresa, with whom he continues to spend nights over with despite Juan now being deceased. On one particular night, he has a nightmare in which Kevin has sex with a woman in the backyard and he emotionlessly observes. After a particularly hard day after being taken advantage of by both his mom, Terrel, and his friends, he visits Kevin at the beach near his house. While smoking a joint, Chiron and Kevin discuss their ambitions which ends with Kevin kissing Chiron and giving him a passionate handjob. The next morning, Kevin and Terrel engage in a friendly conversation which leads to Terrel pressuring Kevin into partaking in a hazing ritual, where he must beat someone of Terrel's choice until they refuse to get back up. Terrel makes Kevin punch Chiron, and when Chiron refuses to stay down, causing Kevin to become increasingly reluctant with his blows, Terrel and three other nearby peers stomp on Chiron before being chased away by a teacher. A social worker urges Chiron to reveal the identities of his attackers, but Chiron, feeling that reporting them will not solve anything, refuses to disclose their names. The next day, Chiron walks into class and smashes a wooden chair into Terrel's back and continues waling on him until dragged away by several students and the teacher. Chiron is arrested, and as he is put into a police car, he glares at Kevin, who is standing by. iii: Black Now a hardened and tougher adult, Chiron (now played by Trevante Rhodes), going by the name "Black" (a new nickname given by Kevin as a teenager) is a drug dealer living outside Atlanta, having moved up since running drugs after leaving juvie, and now leads a similar life to the one Juan led, living in a large house and driving the same car. He has trouble sleeping and he gets frequent calls from Paula, asking him to visit. One night, he gets a call from Kevin (now played by André Holland), who asks Chiron to visit him in Miami where he works as a server and cook at a diner, also apologizing for his actions as a teenager, which causes Chiron to shed a tear. The next morning, Chiron wakes up to find that he had a wet dream. He drives down to Florida, meeting with his visibly frail mother first, who has become repentant for her addiction and Chiron's abusive upbringing. After a tense exchange, Chiron tearfully forgives his mother. He then travels to Miami to reunite with Kevin, but when they finally meet, Chiron is reluctant to speak to him or drink with Kevin, who himself is nonplussed by Chiron's new appearance and simple motivation for seeing him. Kevin allows Chiron to spend the night at his apartment, where Kevin confides that his life didn't turn out the way that he had hoped, but he's still happy with his job and place in life, and Chiron admits to Kevin that he has not had relations with anyone but him since they last met. They physically reconcile shortly after.