ThiefHott Too much of everything

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

andrewdoyle74 Kind of went off a little over half way through... Liked the way it ended...

TheLittleSongbird Wanted to see as many 2016 films as possible, especially those that won or were nominated for the big awards. Took me a while to see 'Moonlight', with the controversy it garnered when it was announced for the Best Picture Oscar and the amount of hate it's got here part of me was wary.Finally getting round to seeing 'Moonlight', it turned out that it was more than well worth the while and that the wariness was not needed. 'Moonlight' is not a perfect film and may not have been my personal pick for the Best Picture award (for me that was 'La La Land' though that is not a popular opinion it seems). Truly admired what it set out to do and found it a brave and powerful film, despite what the detractors say there is far more to 'Moonlight's' appeal than politics, sexuality and race (clearly trying to find conspiracy theories and reasons for why a film they dislike is loved by others, without taking into account that the film simply just connected to and resonated with those who liked it).'Moonlight' does end on an anti-climactic note, some of the last act is a bit rushed. A longer length would have helped as a result, it also would have helped make a couple of events in the first act a little clearer and not so choppy. It may not say much new, despite the ground-breaking concept on paper with the exploration of lives rarely seen on film, and doesn't always have subtlety. Then again it is tackling far from subtle themes and a heavy subject, so that sort of was going to be inevitable. However, 'Moonlight' is an exceptionally well made film. The cinematography and editing are some of the most eye-pleasing and best of that year, and can't find anything to fault the expertly handled direction. The music is cleverly mixed and has haunting power and fluidity. Regarding the writing, it is not perfect, at times as said a little heavy-handed and vague in parts, but it is thought-provoking and handles very ambitious, relevant, important themes with power, truth and (mostly) delicacy. The story makes the most of the three act structure, it's handled simply but not simplistically and also handled cleverly and with passion, honesty and intelligence. Found myself relating quite a lot to and being moved significantly by the story and found the film handled a heavy and sensitive subject matter with a lot of relevance and importance today more than admirably. Can't fault the acting, doing wonders with compellingly real characters and strongly defined character relationships (especially the central one). Much has been made of Maharshala Ali and Naomie Harris and deservedly with two of the best performances that year, Ali especially is extraordinary. It is easy though to overlook Alex R. Hibbert, Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders and one shouldn't, as they are just as worthy (particularly Sanders). Overall, didn't completely blow me away but very well done and with a lot to admire. 8/10 Bethany Cox

fabraley This film has been beautifully written and directed, very well edited with an excellent original score and cinematography. there are always moments when you are by yourself, just thinking, walking, taking a bath, cooking or eating and i feel it is very important to show this moments in cinema, they are human and natural. one of the reasons i have fallen in love with Moonlight is the way it shows you this while also having very intense and dramatic scenes. quiet scenes are important, when you can clearly see all the emotions the characters are carrying inside without saying anything at all and that's another thing i appreciated a lot. the score adds so much to the story and performances and makes it much more complete and thrilling. this film tells its story in a very slow, gentle and smart way that fills you with both joy and heartache. there is a lot going on in this little boy's life and you can see how affected he is by all of it, how he discovers who he really is, how he deals with all the pain he is enduring. impeccable performances by all the cast, director Barry Jenkins has created an important and breathtaking film that a lot of people needed to see, specially gay black boys whose stories are rarely told or heard. moonlight is a very rich and emotional piece of art.

bearhugman I have read a few of the very negative reviews. And I think I can understand, that everyone has a very different 'take' on the journey that is their life. So i'm only going to say that this movie moved 'me'. It is a story that I relate to in terms of the isolation that sometime happens to a life through being Gay (or perhaps many other reasons) it seems to me this movie told a simple story very well. We all search for an acceptable version (of ourselves) and we all search for connections with others so that we can recognize that we are human. I have no cultural connection to the setting (african American, drug use etc) of this story, but I found a true connection to the humanity of it.