MOONLIGHT

MOONLIGHT is the best work of film art I've seen this year. It' original in too many ways to count, including story, direction (including and especially casting), cinematography, etc. It's the story of one man's experience, played by three different actors at three stages of his life: childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

All three actors embody the character so well you forget you're watching three different people. Newcomer Alex R. Hibbert gets the sulky boy so perfectly it's startling. Aston Sanders as the the teenager extends what Hibbert did and complicates and heightens it to such great effect that his part of the movie could be a breakthrough film on its own. And Trevante Rhodes is so stunningly charismatic, he makes the third act of the film his so completely you want the movie to delay ending as long as possible.

Director and co-writer Barry Jenkins proves himself the consummate artist with his choices, including the economy of the script, not afraid to linger on almost dialogue free, or completely dialogue free moments and still satisfy emotionally, intellectually and artistically. I know it's a movie I can now watch again, anytime, and I'm sure I will.

If you haven't seen it, try to get to it while it's still in theaters because you need the full screen to get the depth of Jenkins artistry and the full effect of his casting as the faces and physicality of the actors wrenches you into a world that cannot be denied.