Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

Moonlight Blu-ray Movie Review

Dangerous.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 24, 2017

The voyage of self discovery is fraught with hazards for many, maybe even most, but it has additional obstacles which accrue if the “self” happens to be a member of a minority. As it happens, Moonlight’s main character Chiron (played by three different actors as the character ages) is a member of more than one minority, something that informs both the text and the subtext of this involving and at times emotionally draining film. The surface level minority is “easy” to spot, since Chiron is an African American. However, the story ultimately reveals that Chiron is at the least sexually questioning and who ultimately is shown exploring a gay relationship, something that perhaps makes him a shunned quasi-minority within his own general racial minority. There are a lot of screenwriting tomes devoted to the oft mentioned “three act structure”, and in a way Moonlight takes that idea to new levels, with three distinct “chapters” devoted to different parts of Chiron’s life. It is in a way a kind of African American take on Boyhood, though with an even more fractured family unit at the core of the story. Moonlight may not seem to have a narrative through line in its charting of Chiron’s halting journey to figuring out what makes himself tick, other than as an almost sociological study of what one young black male encounters as he matures, but like anyone who has lived long enough to look back over their own story, there is intense meaning to be found in individual moments that ultimately spin a tale that, while not always easy to watch, delivers enormous emotional dividends.

The first section of Moonlight is titled “Little”, which turns out to not just describe a young and frightened Chiron (Alex Hibbert), but also is his nickname. The film actually opens with a brief introduction of a drug dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali), who turns out to be Chiron’s unlikely mentor. As Juan checks in with a neighborhood homeboy, a bunch of young kids go running by, chasing Chiron and calling him “faggot”, which is the first almost subliminal clue that Chiron’s behavior patterns may not fit the “norm”, at least the norm as defined by straight males. Chiron ends up hiding out in an abandoned apartment house, where Juan finds him and takes him out for food and then back to Juan’s house, where both Juan and his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monáe) attempt to get the withdrawn little boy to open up a little bit.

Two other supporting characters are introduced in this first section, both of whom will continue to play important roles in Chiron’s life. The first of these is his mother Paula (Naomie Harris), a woman who obviously has some nurturing tendencies but whose own personal problems tend to spill out in abusive rants aimed toward Chiron. Chiron finds some temporary relief, or what passes for it, in his burgeoning friendship with Kevin (Jaden Piner), another little black boy who encourages Chiron not to be “soft” so that he won’t be relentlessly picked on by the other kids.

The second section of the film bears the title “Chiron” and documents a couple of disturbing vignettes from Chiron’s teen years. Now in high school, Chiron (Ashton Sanders) is still getting bullied, this time chiefly by a dreadlocked kid named Terrel (Patrick Decile). With Paula more or less completely sidelined by increasing addiction issues, Chiron attempts to fend for himself, but when Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) relents to peer pressure and joins Terrel in attacking Chiron, it seems to finally push Chiron over the edge. While not overtly detailed as a motivating factor in Chiron's burst of vengeful energy, the fact that Chiron and Kevin have engaged in a little hanky panky offers some perhaps subliminal rationale for why this particular beating fosters such rage in Chiron. Though badly injured himself from the beating he’s taken, Chiron refuses to divulge who attacked him, and instead simply marches into the school and gives Terrel a bit of comeuppance (or, considering where Terrel ends up, comedownance). As might be expected, and with a sort of grim sense of foreboding that things are spiraling out of control, the last vision of Chiron in this section is him being hustled into a police car, having been arrested for giving Terrel some payback.

The third and final section of the film is titled “Black”, which is a “new, improved” nickname that was bestowed on Chiron by Kevin back in their teen years. Now an adult, Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) has evidently followed in Juan’s footsteps, and is dealing drugs. In what might be seen as an overly convenient set of redemptions, both Paula and Kevin (André Holland) reach out to Chiron in attempts to mend fences. While perhaps a bit too pat, at least given the gritty and depressive ambience of much of what has gone before, this part of Moonlight actually delivers on some intense emotional opportunities.

Moonlight is a fascinating effort from writer-director Barry Jenkins (who based his screenplay off of an unproduced play by Tarell Alvin McCraney), one that twists the vaunted “three act structure” to its own ends, but which otherwise tends to eschew some of the supposed “necessities” of modern screenwriting. For example, who exactly is supposed to be the “villain” in this film? It might be easy to single out Terrel, but that’s probably too facile, and in fact not entirely accurate since Chiron has already gone through trauma before Terrel enters the fray and continues to experience challenges afterward. It’s almost as if Jenkins is positing the vagaries of fate and circumstance as the real “bad guys” in the film, setting Chiron up on a quest to overcome seemingly impossible odds. It’s remarkable, then, that the film’s bittersweet and kinda sorta happy ending suggests that Chiron has in fact managed to at least partially quell the rage within and might even have a chance at a happier future.

Moonlight Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Moonlight is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. Shot digitally with Arri Alexa XT Plus cameras and finished at a 2K DI (according to the IMDb), the film has the typical precision in detail levels this technology affords, at least when Jenkins and DP James Laxton aren't letting handheld approaches and some patently odd focus pulling get in the way. Because there's a fair amount of "jiggly cam" on display, the frame is often highly variable, giving at least the impression of softness. But there are also some kind of odd out of focus moments that suddenly become clear as scenes progress, something that I have to assume was done intentionally. As can be seen in several of the screenshots accompanying this review, Jenkins and Laxton like to give an almost Impressionistic flavor to backgrounds a lot of the time. The palette has been toyed with occasionally, with several scenes offering a kind of inky purplish ambience, and some sequences (especially in the third section) bathed in a kind of amber or warm orange-brown hue. Despite these approaches, detail levels generally remain high. There are a couple of moments that don't have the overall precision of the bulk of the presentation, with a bit of fuzziness even beyond that introduced by handheld cameras and focus issues (see screenshot 6).

Moonlight Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Moonlight features an energetic DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, one that generates considerable force and immersion courtesy of a number of source cues. Nicholas Britell's more reserved score also resides nicely in the surround channels. Several outdoor scenes provide good opportunities for well placed ambient environmental effects, and dialogue is also rendered cleanly and clearly with no prioritization issues.

Moonlight Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Barry Jenkins


• Ensemble of Emotion: Making Moonlight (1080p; 21:37) is pretty standard EPK fare, but does feature some good interviews.


• Poetry through Collaboration: The Music of Moonlight (1080p; 10:06) focuses on Nicholas Britell.


• Cruel Beauty: Filming in Miami (1080p; 5:39) features Barry Jenkins discussing utilizing Miami as a location.

Moonlight Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Moonlight might not seem to have a traditional narrative structure, despite its almost too on the nose "three act" approach, but for those willing to put aside preconceptions the film offers an incredibly involving and ultimately unbelievably moving character study. Performances are top notch and Jenkins, whose only other feature film is 2008's Medicine for Melancholy , has certainly established himself as a major talent. Highly recommended.