Third place:
Certain Women [116 points / 17 votes]
Second place:
20th Century Women [136 points / 21 votes]
And the Muriel goes to...
Moonlight [209 points / 34 votes]
"Ernest Mathijs, a film professor at the University of British Columbia once described acting ensembles as an 'expression of collectivity and marginality,' wherein a picture is composed via the combination of colorful, yet fully grounded characters that each come together to complement and and enhance the presence of each other. The description is all too appropriate for Barry Jenkins' Moonlight, a film not so much about the the coming of age as the *becoming* of a man.
"In the film, Jenkins tells the story of Chiron, an young boy growing up in Miami and slowly coming to terms with what it means to be black and gay in America. Surrounding him are the influences in his life, an ensemble of characters that each bestow lessons good, bad, or a little bit of both. Naomie Harris as Paula, a mother hungry for love, unable to see through a crippling addiction to the yearning of her son for the same. Mahershala Ali as Juan, a man of dual integrities; a dealer who has created the very conditions he tries to teach Chiron to escape. Janelle Monae as Juan's girlfriend, who provides an easy sanctuary that slowly reveals a darker truth. And Kevin, the boy who unlocks the softer side of Chiron's heart, while simultaneously maintaining the facades society demands.
"Each of these characters play off one another in remarkable, almost orchestral waves. For each bright note, a hint of sorrow colors the mood and shifts the tone ever so slightly, with no one note ever asserting dominance over the other. As the 'Three Ages of Chiron,' Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes each allow themselves to be immersed in the music, picking up grace notes here, a mournful air there, recognizing the whole of the world as co-composers of a soul still under construction, a symphony not yet complete." ~ Donald G. Carder
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