Last week for one of my classes, we watched Moonlight, which won the Oscar for Picture of the Year this year. There has been so much hype around this film since it won the award, so our professor tried to calm down our hype to prepare us for the slow and thoughtful art film that it actually is. But to be honest, there should be more hype around this film. It was thoughtful, beautifully shot, and left me in awe.

Disclaimer: There may be some spoilers in my review, so if you have not seen it yet and really want to, please do not read this.

Okay, so filmmaking is something that has always fascinated me. Scores, angles, lighting, costumes. All of it. And from just an aesthetic perspective, completely removed from the gut-wrenching storyline, this film left me in awe. Especially the final scene of the film, holy moly. It left me completely speechless. The coloring, the music, the angle. I mean, utterly beautiful. 10/10.

But the best part of this film is the plot and the representation of this film. For those who do not know the overview of this movie, it is about a young black man in Miami who is dealing with his sexuality and masculinity. It follows him throughout three major phases in his life: childhood, teenage years, and young adulthood. Aside from the fact that he is struggling with his hyper-masculine peers and his sexuality, he has to deal with his mother who is addicted to drugs. Not only does this film represent the LGBTQ community, but it represents people of color and tells their story. Oftentimes, the face of LGBTQ rights is white so it is important to have a more inclusive view.

While the film is not action packed, it makes you work for what you take away from it. The theme and ideas are not thrown directly in your face, instead you actually have to pay attention and think. There are few things in this world that left me speechless, but I could not form proper thoughts on this film for hours. I was left in awe and I am still thinking about it days later.

Ten out of ten would recommend. Watch it. Cry afterward. Cry for days afterward.