‘Moonlight’ sets new standards for future movies

Kip Mayes, Reporter

Academy Award winning for best picture “Moonlight” is a heartbreaking coming-of-age story directed by Barry Jenkins that will have you in tears by the closing credits.

The plot follows a young black boy, Chiron (Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes) and people in his life including father-figure Juan (Mahershala Ali), Juan’s girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe), Mother Paula (Naomie Harris), and Friend/love interest Kevin (André Holland, Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome) through three stages of his life and what he struggles within that time, including abuse, heartbreak, and confusion.

 

“Moonlight” is a modern masterpiece where each chapter makes it more and more clear why it won the Academy Award. Besides having such a diverse plot that includes an all-black cast and a LGBT+ subject matter, “Moonlight” is incredibly pleasing to the eye between its unique scenery and its play on different cool-toned colors.

 

The directors use of leaving certain things out, such as Juan’s funeral and Chiron’s earlier years, makes the viewer really think about how much more Chiron has gone through off the screen. By having to fill in the blanks, it makes it clear that although Chiron is going through a lot from what you can see, he is going through much more from what you have to imagine.

 

With all the visuals, excellent acting, and thought-provoking plot line, the movie truly made its mark and has become one of the best movies of the decade. Seeing a movie that is so unlike others with its amount of ethnic characters and non-heterosexual oriented love interests really brings a new light and hope for more movies aimed for people who relate to these things and feel they don’t see enough of it on the big screen.

 

“Moonlight” greatly impacted modern day movie making and has set a new standard for movies in the future. It is truly one-of-a-kind and one of the best movies to date.