ATF : 'Moonlight' (2016)

(Spoilers!)
What a beautiful thing this movie is. What a marvelous, marvelous thing. I went to the cinema without really knowing much about 'Moonlight' and it totally won me over. The story, the superb acting by the whole entire cast, the ending... practically everything is something stellar.

Barry Jenkins directs this coming of age story of Little, a young, introvert kid becoming an adult, and the process of getting to know himself and getting lost in the middle, and it does it so beautifully that the story replays in your head. Not only that, but the filmography is something gorgeous, tainted in blue or neon lights in many scenes that evoke that scene where someone tells that "In moonlight, black boys look blue", so they own that color in the whole entire movie.

The portrayal of Little, then Chiron and later Black, is very well developed in a character that doesn't feel comfortable in his own skin. From the very start we see how he doesn't fit in at school and is bullied by some other kids, thing that also happens in highschool as he's called a queer and even in adulthood he doesn't feel at ease. Growing up he's influenced by Juan, a drug dealer that picks him up the streets after being chased by some bullies, and somehow serves as the father figure that he never had. There are some really beautiful moments with him, like when he teaches him how to swim at the beach but also some tough ones, like when Little asks him what does he does as a living and if he sells drugs to his momma too.

In his teens we see how the bulllying, the uneaseness, increases in highschool and the bullying gets harder for him, his mom does no longer have a job and is a full crack addict now and he suffered the loss of an important role model as Juan passed away (presumably killed after his drug dealing). He can still go to Juan's girlfriend Teresa's home to feel safe but he's still hasn't opened to anyone of felt at ease. That is until a beach night with his pal Kevin takes place, his first sexual encounter with a man, all drowned by the moonlight. This, and the event that will place him serving time after hitting one of his bullies with a chair in the had, are what will mark his fatal transition to adulthood.

When he, now called Black, becomes a man, we see the spitting image of the late Juan. Black spent some time in prison and his future took a toll and became a drug dealer like his mentor. Probably what Juan didn't want him to become but he fully took his shoes and is even driving his car. But even like this, he doesn't feel fully complete. In fact, we're seeing a mask to hide his true self and not facing the world, and the easiest way is to become what he once admired. That is until he receives a call from his old buddy and one night lover Kevin. And then, when they meet, he's at the same time more uncomfortable but more close to being who he really is than ever. The tension that they have, in that scene in the restaurant where Kevin works, is one of the greatest things i've seen in a movie. The music, how they look at each other, what they're not telling but feeling... emotions are out there but in spoken silences and you can feel the thrill. Everything finally bursts from Black's mouth when he reveals that Kevin was the only man who ever touched him and then everything is out there, and he can finally become who he really is, presumably, in the company of Kevin.

This movie is so full of emotions and feelings that remains in your head for days. It really deserves to win every award before 'La La Land', which is an ok movie after watching this. But we know it's not going to happen though i would love to see it being the surprise winner at the Academy Awards.

I cannot but post a bunch of beautiful images of the film after the cut and really recommend you watch this film because it's something else. It really is.