Movie Review: The striking humanity of ‘Moonlight’

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Wesley Morris and Jenna Wortham, Nov. 3, 2016

Alex Hibbert, left, and Mahershala Ali in the film “Moonlight.” Credit David Bornfriend/A24

HOLLYWOOD---Every once in a while a movie shows up that everyone agrees is perfect. This year, that unanimously adored film is Barry Jenkins’s “Moonlight,” about one Miami boy’s coming-of-age. His name is Chiron. He’s poor. He’s black. And he’s gay. The miracle of the movie is how it’s interested in none of that. The only condition it cares about is the human condition. Not many movies about black men share that concern. In its two weeks in release, the movie’s been a massive hit, playing on about a hundred screens. [link]


THE NEW YORK TIMES
By A.O. Scott, October 22, 2016

Alex Hibbert plays the young Chiron, who grows up in “Moonlight,” a film exploring the nature and meaning of manhood. Credit David Bornfriend/A24

HOLLYWOOD---Perhaps the most beautiful thing about ‘Moonlight’ is its open-endedness, its resistance to easy summary or categorization. I guess I’m back where I started, trying to decide what this movie is about. As with any original and challenging work, the answer may take a while to emerge, but what strikes me now is less the pain of Chiron’s circumstances than the sense that, in spite of everything, he is free. A bullied, neglected and all-but-silent child, he grows toward an understanding of himself and his world, and though it is agonizing to witness his progress, it is also thrilling. To be afforded a window into another consciousness is a gift that only art can give. [link]