Directed by Barry Jenkins

MOONLIGHT draws the viewer into an artistic emotional soul stirring fluidity of subtle gender identification told through 3 profound stages of manhood.  I use the word manhood because the film in itself is eye opening because someone has finally re-invented the wheel; so to speak, when it comes to exploring the so called “masculine” narrative of what a boy, teenage, and adult man of African decent faces from the vast fields of his given environment. And in that environment, including the depths of the adversary effects of a dysfunctional family as well as the onset of a mentor, who represents the ultra masculine yet flawed father figure.  Even though this film can be said to strongly represent the coming of age and acceptance of a young man and his sexual identity and the physical and mental pain he faces on a daily basis, I also found some other very strong narratives present that many black men face in a world that in many aspects forces them to subdue their intelligence, strength and authentic beauty. MOONLIGHT, speaks to millions of black men who have for one reason or another been forced to survive by navigating in utter darkness, carrying the burden of building physical and mental walls to protect themselves from the daggers of judgment from those that should know first hand what it feels like to be ostracized and made to feel less than human.  Whether you have ever known someone who has struggled with any form of sexual identity or experienced this natural human emotion of realization, I recommend you go see “MOONLIGHT.” I walked away with a feeling of pure love and respect for each moment of raw intimacy that these amazing characters shared among one another.

This above all: To thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day.  Thou canst not then be false to any man.     Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”

💜Love & Light🌞,
CRISTEN M. MILLS