Moonlight movie awarded four and a half stars by reviewer Leigh Paatsch

REVIEW: The journey charted by Moonlight — as heart-wrenching as it is harrowing — does not leave behind any passengers in the audience.

MOONLIGHT (M)

Director: Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy)

Starring: Mahershala Ali, Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe

Rating: Four and a half stars

Lost in the dark, where will he beam?

BE aware of who you are. Accept who you are. Then move on with your life. Otherwise, life will move right past you.

These are the universal insights communicated by Moonlight, a uniquely calm, affecting and wise coming-of-age drama that is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year.

The story of Moonlight lyrically flows towards the viewer via three separate streams of consciousness, all of which slowly pool together to reflect the bittersweet truth of growing up as a young black male in America.

The first section of the film sets an unworldly, yet soulful tone that will continue to resonate with viewers throughout.

It is here, in a drug-infested Miami, that a bullied child named Chiron (Alex Hibbert), is standing by helplessly as the crack addition of his mother (Naomie Harris) intensifies.

The boy needs a father-figure of some kind, but options in this urban wasteland are severely limited.

The only helping hand extended to Chiron — and one that the shaken boy is understandably reluctant to accept — comes from a neighbourhood drug dealer, Juan (Mahershala Ali).

Mahershala Ali’s drug dealing character Juan becomes a mentor to Chiron (played by Alex Hibbert). Picture: Village Roadshow

Nicknaming the child ‘Little’, Juan becomes an unlikely mentor and sincere protector of Chiron. There is an indescribable purity to the bond these two share that culminates in a moving and memorable sequence where Juan teaches his young charge to swim.

Mahershala Ali ‘s Juan teaches Chiron (Alex Hibbert) how to swim. Picture: David Bornfriend / A24 / AP

Just as Juan can sense there are sharks coming in the future that could encircle and eat Chiron alive, he also knows he won’t be there to protect him.

At this point, the movie abruptly changes time frames. Chiron (now played by Ashton Sanders) is in high school, and Juan’s instinctive worries have been proven correct.

There is no refuge anywhere to be found for Chiron, who is beginning to sense he might be gay. His fellow students have already ostracised him on account of his obvious sensitivity and quiet nature. Some of them make their displeasure known with cruel intimidation, others with brutal violence.

Even the boy who passes for Chiron’s only friend, Kevin (Jharrel Jerome), may choose to fall in with the punchy pack if pushed hard enough.

In Moonlight’s ominously captivating, yet strangely uplifting final act, we finally learn what will become of Chiron as an adult.

Everything he has experienced in his difficult past is about to impact on his future in ways that are best left unmentioned here.

Moonlight has been nominated for eight Oscars — Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Original Music Score, Best Writing Adapated Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.

The conflicting impulses of physical confidence and emotional insecurity coursing through Chiron as a grown man (where he is played by Trevante Rhodes) will either be the making or the breaking of him.

The complete journey charted by Moonlight — as heart-wrenching as it is harrowing — does not leave behind any passengers in the audience.

While the acting, cinematography, screenwriting and music score are all superb in their own right, it is the movie’s brave and beguiling use of silence throughout that ultimately speaks volumes for its undeniable power.

So much is left unsaid in Moonlight. But nothing is left unfelt.