When I finished watching Moonlight, I knew I had seen something truly remarkable and something incredibly important.

This is one of the few films I've seen that so eloquently deals with the topics of race, homosexuality and masculinity.

It's performances like Mahershala Ali's character: a drug dealer named Juan. Normally you would think a character like this would be downright evil, instead you realize he does what he does because he wants to make a better life for himself and that he truly cares about Chiron.

It's a film that makes us feel empathy for a drug addict. I lost a friend to an drug overdose this year and I feel the dynamic between Naomie Harris and three Chirons captured how I felt about my friend's drug addiction.

The film has a beautiful love story, it's one that's absolutely subtle but it also has an important message to men out there and that is that we all need a shoulder to cry on sometimes and we need to be more loving to each other.

With the events that have transpired recently in the US, this film could not have come at a better time. Barry Jenkins' film is the light we need in this time of darkness.