Here’s our first look at Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, the director’s first film since his touching 2008 debut Medicine for Melancholy (which landed a spot in Slate’s Black Film Canon). Based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, Moonlight is the story of Chiron (Trevante Rhodes), a young man coming of age and struggling with his sexuality in 1980s Miami, amid Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs. The film, written by Jenkins, stars Naomie Harris, André Holland, Mahershala Ali, and marks the big screen debut of Janelle Monáe.
Moonlight comes from entertainment company A24, which has become a haven for smaller, stylish films amid a sea of blockbusters in recent years. As Slate’s David Ehrlich reported during a visit to A24, Moonlight waited a long time before it found financial backing with the distributor willing to take a risk on it.
Moonlight will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival before hitting theaters Oct. 21.
