Moonlight (2016)
89%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: Won 3 Oscars
228 wins & 296 nominations total
Moonlight uses one man’s story to offer a remarkable and brilliantly crafted look at lives too rarely seen in cinema
Moonlight is a film that will leave you feeling all the feels. It’s a beautiful and poignant story that captures the essence of what it means to be human. The performances are outstanding, the direction is masterful, and the music is hauntingly beautiful. It’s a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll. So, grab some tissues and get ready for an emotional rollercoaster ride. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Production Company(ies)
CNN Films, HBO Max Tremolo Productions,
Distributor
A24
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Miramar High School, Miramar, Florida, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and language throughout
Year of Release
2016
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 51m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 18, 2016 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 28, 2017
Genre(s)
Drama/Lgbtq+
Keyword(s)
starring Mahershala Ali, Alex R Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Janelle Monáe, Naomie Harris, directed by Barry Jenkins, written by Barry Jenkins, produced by Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, drama, LGBTQ+, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Nijla Mu’min, Elissa Suh, Elena Lazic, Lisa Kennedy, Rick Mele, Candice Frederick, Brian Eggert, James Luxford, David Gonzalez, Ben Turner, Kip Mooney, Mahershala Ali as Juan, Alex R Hibbert as Little, Ashton Sanders as Chiron, Trevante Rhodes as Black, Naomie Harris as Paula, coming of age, Miami, community, kindness, support, love, masculine identity, drug use, brief violence, language throughout, some sexuality, Dolby Digital, Scope (2.35:1), A24, 1h 51m
Worldwide gross: $65,336,603
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $80,527,269
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,127
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 8,781,600
US/Canada gross: $27,854,932
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $34,331,164
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,227
US/Canada opening weekend: $402,075
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $495,557
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,408
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $4,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,929,994
Production budget ranking: 1,914
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,654,802
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $72,942,473
ROI to date (est.): 962%
ROI ranking: 132
Alex R. Hibbert – Little
Ashton Sanders – Chiron
Trevante Rhodes – Black
Janelle Monáe – Teresa
Naomie Harris – Paula
Director(s)
Barry Jenkins
Writer(s)
Barry Jenkins
Producer(s)
Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Film Festivals
Telluride, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
Won 3 Oscars
228 wins & 296 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (396) | Top Critics (91) | Fresh (389) | Rotten (7)
Moonlight displays the kind of empathy and humanity that we desperately need right now.
February 17, 2021
Nijla Mu’min
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
Jenkins boils a life down to its decisive moments; a life in three parts is an eloquent and acute summation with Nicholas Britell’s heart-rending music underlining.
March 13, 2020
Elissa Suh
StageBuddy.com
TOP CRITIC
Jenkins’ authorial voice is resounding and strong and his determination admirable.
March 21, 2018
Elena Lazic
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
“Moonlight” arrives as a gift, one worth keeping – and regifting.
February 16, 2018
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
TOP CRITIC
Moonlight may be a quiet, understated gem. But you can expect the buzz surrounding it to become deafening.
August 15, 2017
Rick Mele
Shadow and Act
TOP CRITIC
Through each of their performances, and the rich narrative, Jenkins delivers an authentic, necessary statement of black male self-love.
March 22, 2017 | Rating: B+
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
The director’s filmmaking radiates a poetry in his storytelling and visual aesthetic, creating a film that resonates with the viewer in the head and heart.
April 9, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Ending as enigmatically as it begins, Moonlight is a film about the lives that slip between the cracks. Its unmissable.
February 21, 2022 | Rating: 5/5
James Luxford
City AM
Moonlight is one of the very best films of the year so far. It is a reminder that despite background, geographic location, race, or sexual orientation, everyone seeks comfort, shelter, someone, and a space in which we can truly be ourselves.
February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
David Gonzalez
Reel Talk Inc.
The cinematic treatment leaves this diminutive urban story feeling grand, classical and majestic.
September 2, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Ben Turner
The Pink Lens
A refreshing, bracing break from not just what Hollywood churns out, but also from the awards-driven independent films that dominate the end of the year.
August 28, 2021 | Rating: A
Kip Mooney
College Movie Review
Black lives matter in the quiet, contemplative Moonlight, but let’s not stop there.
August 18, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy…
Plot
Three time periods – young adolescence, mid-teen and young adult – in the life of black-American Chiron is presented. When a child, Chiron lives with his single, crack addict mother Paula in a crime ridden neighborhood in Miami. Chiron is a shy, withdrawn child largely due to his small size and being neglected by his mother, who is more concerned about getting her fixes and satisfying her carnal needs than taking care of him. Because of these issues, Chiron is bullied, the slurs hurled at him which he doesn’t understand beyond knowing that they are meant to be hurtful. Besides his same aged Cuban-American friend Kevin, Chiron is given what little guidance he has in life from a neighborhood drug dealer named Juan, who can see that he is neglected, and Juan’s caring girlfriend Teresa, whose home acts as a sanctuary away from the bullies and away from Paula’s abuse. With this childhood as a foundation, Chiron may have a predetermined path in life, one that will only be magnified in terms of its problems when he reaches his difficult teen years when peer pressure affects what he and many of his peers do, unless he follows Juan’s advice of truly making his own decisions for himself.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Mahershala Ali won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Moonlight.
Barry-Jenkins.jpg
