A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
- Won 3 Oscars
- 233 wins & 309 nominations total
Alex R. Hibbert
- Little
- (as Alex Hibbert)
Duan Sanderson
- Azu
- (as Duan 'Sandy' Sanderson)
Herman 'Caheei McGloun
- Longshoreman
- (as Herman 'Caheej' McGloun)
Rudi Goblen
- Gee
- (as Rudi Goblin)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Best Picture Winners by Year
Best Picture Winners by Year
See the complete list of Best Picture winners. For fun, use the "sort order" function to rank by IMDb rating and other criteria.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaNaomie Harris had to shoot her entire role in three days, in between her promotional tour of Spectre (2015), due to a visa problem (Harris is British). The scenes spanned 15 years in the character's life and were filmed out of sequence.
- GoofsWhen Chiron and his mother are in their house and she asks him for money, his backpack is placed at his front, strapped over both shoulders. However, in several shots where he is seen from the back, there is no strap over his left shoulder. At one point he switches the backpack from his front to his back, but right after that, when his mother starts struggling with him, the backpack is at his front again.
- Crazy creditsThere are no opening credits.
- Alternate versionsDespite the 'A' (adults only) rating, the Indian theatrical release was cut by 53 seconds by the Censor Board to mute all instances of "bitch/bitches, motherfucker, and dick", the sex scene between Kevin and Chiron, and the homosexual kiss between 2 boys. After cuts, 2 minutes was added to promote anti-smoking disclaimers.
- SoundtracksEvery Nigger Is a Star
Written by Boris Gardiner and Barrington Gardiner
Performed by Boris Gardiner
Remix by Dennis "DEZO" Williams
Courtesy of Now-Again Records, LLC obo Jazzman Records LTD.
Featured review
Simple, Painful, Outstandingly Beautiful
Moonlight is one of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching films that I have ever seen. Many users are expressing disdain or presumed it to be dull. Yet, to see it as such misses the whole point of the film. Moonlight wasn't intended to overtly wow us or give us knowledge about something we didn't already know. Rather the film allowed us to enter and follow a life that I'm sure many have never considered living. Yes, we know some about poverty, queerness, masculinity, and Blackness individually, but to see the conflict of it all so succinctly woven together allowed the complexity of some folks lives to be seen in an unadulterated way. Moonlight wasn't supposed to give us some grandiose finale or even answers, but simply present a narrative that we often don't see. And that's what makes it so simple, painful, yet outstandingly beautiful.
It's also important to remember that just because you don't understand something, that doesn't mean it is unimportant or invalid. Just because you can't relate to the entire story doesn't mean pieces of it can't teach you something about life. Just because the narrative is one that isn't widely told, doesn't mean it should be disregarded. If you don't understand this film or find it a waste, look deep inside yourself and ask why.
10/10 would recommend.
It's also important to remember that just because you don't understand something, that doesn't mean it is unimportant or invalid. Just because you can't relate to the entire story doesn't mean pieces of it can't teach you something about life. Just because the narrative is one that isn't widely told, doesn't mean it should be disregarded. If you don't understand this film or find it a waste, look deep inside yourself and ask why.
10/10 would recommend.
helpful•706258
- greeenchik
- Mar 1, 2017
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $4,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $27,854,932
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $402,075
- Oct 23, 2016
- Gross worldwide
- $65,172,611
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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