A Simple Breakdown of What Moonlight Is About

While the glitz and glamour of La La Land has earned the larger-than-life musical a record-tying 14 Academy Award nominations, a heartbreakingly beautiful underdog may be giving it a run for its money. Moonlight, nominated for eight Oscars, draws on the lives of director Barry Jenkins and writer Tarell Alvin McCraney and is based on McCraney's stage play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. It tells the story of Chiron, a young black man growing up in a rough Miami neighborhood and evolving from a shy child to a complex, troubled adult.

Chiron's story is told in three parts, and the main character is portrayed by three different actors, depicting him at varying milestone ages. Alex Hibbert opens the film as a quiet, school-age Chiron, who people call "Little." He's bullied by classmates and mistreated by his sole caretaker, his single mother, Paula (Naomie Harris), who is addicted to drugs and wavers between neglect and abuse. Young Chiron finds an unexpected father figure in Juan (Mahershala Ali), the kingpin of the local drug trade. It's in the home that Juan shares with his girlfriend, Teresa (Janelle Monáe), where Chiron feels safe, cared for, and comforted. This haven, however, is shattered once young Chiron realizes the role Juan plays in his own mother's drug addiction.

Amid the bullying that forces Chiron (now going by his real name) into isolation, he finds a friend in classmate Kevin (played first by Jaden Piner and later as Jharrel Jerome and André Holland). The bond they forge through the film's second chapter, however, is broken as a peer named Terrel (Patrick Decile) sets his sights on mercilessly abusing a teenage Chiron (now played by Ashton Sanders). The complexity of Chiron and Kevin's relationship reaches its peak during an intimate encounter that, for the first time, forces Chiron to confront his sexual identity. This continued struggle with his sexuality is central to Chiron's story, and his initial exploration with Kevin causes confusion. It's followed by an act of betrayal that leads to a pivotal turning point.

It's in the film's third act that Chiron's story comes full circle as he struggles to make sense of his adult life and find peace in the fractured and fragmented relationships of his past. Trevante Rhodes portrays this grown-up version of Chiron, called "Black," facing the fallout of his complex, painful youth.

While the question "What is Moonlight about?" can be succinctly answered in chronological plot points ("He is gay. He grows up. The end," as Kristen Page-Kirby teased in The Washington Post), the true answer can't be conveyed in a simple synopsis. "That's what happens in Moonlight, but that's ultimately not what it's about," Page-Kirby continued. "What it's really about, though, is what it's like to live that life."