Moonlight

Back in 2017, I remember the Oscar fiasco, as I’m sure everyone does. At the time, I was incredibly supportive of Lala Land, and mad that Moonlight took the best picture spot. But, now that I’ve actually watched both movies, I think it’s clear Moonlight deserved it. Interestingly, Moonlight is adapted from a stage play of the same name. The structures of film and stage are completely different, so, it’s miraculous that the writing was as good as it was in this film. While there are certain sections of the film that could have been adapted further, for the most part, things were adapted well. One thing that stays the same, are the characters. Each character in Moonlight is distinct and, even though many are played by multiple actors, have a distinct and unique voice and feel. This is supported by some excellent acting, the standout performance obviously being Mahershala Ali. Although his role is brief, him being a sort of father figure to Little is spectacular. The film deals with some heavy material. And, while I definitely feel that it should have taken some time to breath, I also understand why the life of Little seems as tortuous as it appears. The film’s distinction also comes in its visual style, at the beginning, the way it was shot feels like a distant memory. But, as Little grows up, getting less little (I couldn’t help myself), the way everything is shot seems much less fuzzy. As things in Little’s world start to make sense for him, the make sense for us. This just adds to how important the characters in this are, which is interesting, there are maybe only three or four characters with speaking roles, likely something transferred over from the play. Overall, I definitely liked this movie quite a bit, but, I also found that due to it being adapted from a stage play, there were some things that were missing. 9.3/10