Moonlight

2016 Directed by Barry Jenkins

This is the story of a lifetime

The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.

Trevante Rhodes André Holland Janelle Monáe Ashton Sanders Jharrel Jerome Alex Hibbert Jaden Piner Naomie Harris Mahershala Ali Patrick Decile Edson Jean Shariff Earp Duan Sanderson Rudi Goblen Herveline Moncion Fransley Hyppolite Larry Anderson Tanisha Cidel Stephon Bron Don Seward Justin Ebenhack

Alternative Titles

Luz de luna, Luz de Luna, 月亮喜欢蓝, Kuuvalgus, მთვარის შუქი, Σεληνόφως, Holdfény, Or ya're'akh, 문라이트, Menesiena, Lumina lunii, Mesečina, Лунный свет, Ay Isigi, Мiсячне сяйво, Місячне світло, Anh Trang

drama

111 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Lucy ★★★★½ 141

boyhood: who are you?
moonlight: i'm you but stronger in every possible way
Review by adrianbalboa ★★★★★ 58

ashton sanders’ career should have the same momentum as timothée or lucas hedges or that fucking guy from to all the boys i’ve loved before. he should be in a new movie every year he should be offered franchises he should be on magazine covers and red carpets he was incredible in this movie and he deserves a big and successful career in hollywood thank you and good night!
Review by davidehrlich ★★★★½ 15

MOONLIGHT is *MAGNIFICENT.* a specific but utterly symphonic portrait of masculinity in the modern world. every shot is seared into my brain. it's also a devastatingly beautiful love story. to put it in the most reductive / tantalizing terms possible, think CAROL by way of Frank Ocean.
most likely the best film of 2016 so far.
Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★½ 81

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

49/100
Okay, here we go: Why I think the year's most universally acclaimed film is sorta kinda not really very good. Took a second look to be sure, both because I'm always open to the possibility that I'm wrong and because I served on a festival jury with Jenkins a couple of years ago and liked him enormously, so take no pleasure in being a contrarian here. Had exactly the same reaction, alas. In descending order of importance:
• I'm generally allergic to stories about victims.
Hence my failure to appreciate many canonical masterpieces, including Sansho the Bailiff and Au hasard Balthazar. (You're in good company, Barry!) Characters who suffer as a result of some personal failure, however minor—the Greeks' "tragic…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 48

The hype has never, ever, ever been so real. And the best birthday present that I ever could have asked for. A marvel -- a modern masterwork of unadulterated understanding. Understanding of isolation, of idiosyncrasies; understanding of care, of compassion; understanding of darkness & disparities, of spectrums, of sexuality; understanding of memories & maliciousness, of (forced) numbness, of nostalgia; understanding of catharsis. Catharsis. The third act of this film is nothing short of the purest shaping and structuring of cathartic cinema. One of, if not the finest sophomore feature of the last half-decade. A miracle of a film... an experience which we are blessed to have exist in our current, rapturously unsympathetic reality.
Review by Todd Gaines ★★★★½ 63

It doesn't matter who you sleep with, look like, voted for, your age, what part of the world you live in, your hairstyle, who your favorite member of Nickelback is, what type of car you drive, what music you listen to, your sex; a good movie is a good movie. You don't have to be a certain "type" of person to appreciate quality cinema. A great film should bring people closer, not rip them apart. That's what I got out of Barry Jenkins' Moonlight.
Mahershala Ali is the motherfucker, ain't he? Fuck yes! What a screen presence. The orange juice scene will stay with me for a very long time. For such a short amount of time on screen, Mr…

Recent reviews

Review by Jack ★★★★½

Perhaps I judged you too harshly.
Review by Jack ★★★★★

I first saw this during its last run while I was at university and haven't watched it since. I forgot just how much I loved this film. It looks gorgeous, the performances are stellar and the writing still, as I said at the time, reaffirms why I want to be a screenwriter.
Also Janelle Monae... Janelle Monae deserves the world.
Review by Film Therapy ★★★★½

I was trippin in 2016.
Review by Babouche ★★★★½

Vu sur Netflix à Rennes
Review by 𝑔𝑖𝑜 ★★★

cant believe it took me so long to watch this film, its actually so good and heartbreaking
Review by Nathaniel Ahart ★★★★★

I admit. I have sinned.
When I first made my top 10 list of 2016, I had this below a Marvel movie.
On behalf of Barry Jenkins and cinema, I give my most profound of apologies.
Review by i_french ★★★½

75/100👍🏼
Moonlight is beautifully crafted and executed but left me craving just a little more.
There is no denying that this film is a technical masterwork. The cinematography is gorgeous, the direction and pacing is great. I love when a movie effectively breaks itself up in the three act structure. Mahershala Ali is fantastic in his role and I really wanted to see more of him.
With that being said, the story being told just doesn’t do it for me. I thought the first act following Chiron and his mentor like relationship with Ali’s character was a really interesting dynamic and I think it might have worked better if that’s what the whole film followed. Once we reach Chiron in…
Review by Phillip Porter ★★★★

I feel like this movie had a lot of gay undertones
Review by pnickle ★★★★★

utterly heartbreaking film