Moonlight (2016)
Gorgeous drama with powerful performance by everyone except the lead.
Presentation:
The film is stunning with strong anamorphic characteristics. It brings you into the time period and atmosphere and the center framing of characters make it ever more compelling and direct. This coming of age tale of a young black man conflicted is beautifully shot in Miami while telling a powerful message.
Conclusion:
The film follows a black-American growing up in 3 stages. The main character is soft spoken and passive, allowing the audience to stand in and experience life in his shoes. However, this left me personally feeling a lack of connection with the character. Nevertheless, this was the correct choice for the film as it perfectly portrays the loneliness and isolation of the character. When the mother yells, you feel she is yelling at you. When the father consoles, you feel he is consoling you. This is a great award winning film that has a lot of poignant moments. As the situation was niche, i found it difficult to connect with the character especially due to the design of the interactions. But for those that it speaks to, it should definitely hit hard.
Recommendations
Wes Anderson without the set pieces.