Top Ten Movies of the 2010s SHORTLIST Screening #61

Ranked #6 of the 2010s
I remember when Moonlight started screening, and it was immediately called by many as the best film of the decade. This is the first of two times I can recall that happening in the last 10 years and every time I’ve watched the film, my belief in that statement has grown. It is my favorite Academy Award Best Picture of the decade, and remains a film that I think of often when I’m making theatre.

Moonlight is the story of a gay black man growing up in Miami, told through three separate chapters of his life (titled Little, Chiron, and Black). He is played stunningly well by three different actors, a choice that can often create a disconnect, but works tremendously here. The performances are tied together so well that you see the essence of this character living seamlessly through all three actors. Each has a sense of who he is, where he’s been, and what he may become.

Cinematically, this remains one of the most poetic pieces of filmmaking I’ve seen. The color palette of deep blues and reds, the flowing sensuality of the camera work, and the reoccurrence of water all exist as visual metaphors within the storytelling. Barry Jenkins captures the body in a way that is uniquely intimate, as his close-ups simultaneously show a character’s strength and the depth of their vulnerability. I’ve never seen someone do that before. His filmmaking is profound in its gentleness.

Moonlight beautifully captures the isolating feeling of being other, told through a lens of masculinity and tenderness. It is Jenkins’ specificity in the world and people he‘s expressing, that allows us to see clearly into Chiron’s soul. Chiron is different from me in many ways, but he is very similar in others. That we may have that connection is one of art’s greatest gifts.