Moonlight may very well be the best movie you’ll see this year

IT’S going to take something spectacular to come along and knock Moonlight off its perch because it may very well be the best movie you’ll see this year.

REVIEW

IT’S going to take something spectacular to come along and knock Moonlight off its perch because it may very well be the best movie you’ll see this year.

A moving and emotionally charged tour de force, Moonlight is not a story you would’ve seen before on screen, though the filmmakers and cast have taken pains to emphasise that they know people like these characters — children so poor they can only play football with a paper ball.

Part of the movement to bring more diverse stories to films, Moonlight could be loosely described as a coming-of-age tale, but that doesn’t begin to traverse this deeply personal and human story.

Character-driven rather than plot driven, the beautifully quiet film is the story of Chiron, a gay African-American boy from the Miami projects told through three chapters in his life, as a child, a teenager and then as a young man.

Chiron struggles with poverty, a drug-addicted mother, and being bullied for his sexuality, all the while trying to contend with expectations of what it means to be a poor black male in America and being boxed in by your circumstances.

While these might seem like heavy subjects, director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy) has a lightness of touch, a restraint, which doesn’t make it feel like you’re being lectured to. Its subtlety is refreshing.

Teenage Chiron hiding out from bullies.

Jenkins’ wrote the screenplay based on an unproduced play by Tarrell Alvin McCraney called In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. Jenkins and McCraney both grew up in the Miami projects and both have mothers who are/were HIV-positive. McCraney is also gay. There’s no doubt this story comes from an authentic place.

Relying on a cast light on household names — Mahershala Ali (House of Cards, Luke Cage), Naomie Harris (Skyfall, Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom) and singer Janelle Monae are the exceptions — the potency in Moonlight is in the performances.

The three actors who play Chiron (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes) are outstanding. They’re all called on to convey a staggering vulnerability — there is real sadness behind those three pairs of eyes. Chiron is also incredibly perceptive — he sees everything.

In turn, we see everything because above all, Moonlight is a visual film, from its beautiful cinematography and its striking framing to the actors’ faces. The dialogue is sparse and the most significant moments are in what hasn’t been said.

Moonlight will not fail to move you.

Jenkins manages to create real intimacy between Chiron and the audience, throwing us into his perspective and his world. He’s introduced from behind, the handheld camera following his back as he runs away from a pack of bullies to hide in a crack den. While at other times, that connection is sustained with front-on, extreme close-ups.

Ali, who has been dominating the awards circuit as drug dealer Juan and young Chiron’s father figure, is incredibly affecting in the role, and without ever resorting to dramatics. He and Monae, who plays his partner, can break your heart with just a fleeting look.

Moonlight has generated considerable critical buzz since it was released in October in the US and is a real Oscar contender. But it will still be tagged as “art house” by many who may be put off by something unfamiliar. Don’t be.

It’s the kind of film that isn’t just important — and it is as part of the 21st century vanguard of diversity on screen — it’s also a masterpiece in filmmaking. It will stay with you, burrowing deep into your heart and consciousness with its understated grace.

Rating: 5/5

Moonlight is in cinemas from Thursday January 26.

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