Moonlight is a refreshingly honest and real depiction of masculinity that--despite its empathetic reach--has never quite been seen on-screen, until now.

Right from the start, Moonlight addresses what it means to be "hard" versus to be "soft," and how trivial and poisonous that kind of labeling can be to a person, and therefore, to everyone. Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes are perfectly cast as Chiron in his various stages of life, and do an incredible job at playing the character's subdued yet powerful emotions, while the film is directed in a way that presents a raw outlook on Chiron's own perspective.
There's a scene where Chiron, aka "Little," learns how to swim, and the scene is shot entirely with the ocean waves at eye-level, producing that uneasy feeling of barely being able to keep your head above the water. It's little details like this that elevate the film on of top its already soulful and wholly sincere story of what it means to be a man, and one who is honest to himself and proud of his individuality: a lesson that all young men need be desperately reminded of.