I am not black, gay, male, or Floridian. I did not grow up in the projects and my mother was not addicted to crack. I knew my father. However, Moonlight is as much my story as so many other people’s. It is a story about our common humanity. I often say that just because a story is well told doesn’t mean it’s worth telling. Moonlight could have easily fallen victim to this idea. Who cares about a very common kid’s very common story coming out of (and in) the ‘hood. Well, we all should because Moonlight executes it with such subtle brilliance that the viewer sees themselves in the protagonist Chiron. I was surprised to learn that Mahershala Ali had garnered an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Juan (not that it’s not well-warranted), the complicated but kindly drug kingpin who tries to shepherd Chiron, and the actor who plays Chiron was ignored. Until I remembered that it’s actually three actors. The seamless flow of the movie and gorgeous portrayals make you easily forget that young, teenage, and adult Chiron are three separate actors. This film is everything that Room and Boyhood tried to be, but Moonlight does it successfully. The film avoids all of the cheap tropes of ghetto life and instead quietly and patiently unfolds. It forces you to sit with it in the best possible way. There’s a beauty to the urban decay that makes the moments of violence and trauma all the more heartbreaking to watch. The camera work is the only point here that is arguable. Handheld, spinny, and claustrophobically close-up, it can lend a motionsick quality to the film. But that seems to be the point exactly. Despite access to the vastness of the ocean, Chiron is often trapped in his own life and circumstances. His struggles are portrayed in such a way that everyone can relate to that imprisonment. This film is a MUST WATCH.