Moonlight (2016)

Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins film based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, is one of this last years most powerful movies. It is also something new, or at least new to me, and presumably most people who see this film. It is about growing up, poor, black and gay in America, and the tremendous disadvantage that puts you at in life. Broken up into three segments, and portrayed by three different actors, all quite strong, it is the story of Chiron (no last name given) as he grows from a shy boy of around 10, to a conflicted teenager, to a young man trapped in a life he wouldn't have chosen for himself. There is a rich cast of supporting characters who come in and out of Cheron's life, all rendered with impressive flawed humanity. Though I knew few of the performers in this film it is defiantly the years best cast. This movie is a great achievement all around, I felt as though I had been able to see the world, briefly, through the eyes of someone who I had never seriously considered how the world might look like to, and it is quite the enlightening experience. Like Manchester by the Sea this is a movie I would recommend seeing with limited plot foreknowledge. ****