Moonlight was the best film of 2016. Moonlight was the best film of 2016. Moonlight was the best film of 2016. If I could fill a whole page with that statement I would. F-ck, it was one of the best films of the past decade. Moonlight is a masterpiece but that word still feels too small and too ordinary to describe it. It’s a masterclass in humanity. It will break your heart and stay with you for days. I saw it months ago and there are moments I just think about certain scenes in the film and get emotional. Moonlight only took home one of the six Golden Globes it was up for last night. Every time someone from La La Land hailed their own movie as SO GROUNDBREAKING and unique and congratulated themselves for making a musical about Hollywood like that’s never been done before, I couldn’t help but think of Barry Jenkins.
Barry Jenkins wrote and directed a film that is actually rare and revolutionary. Barry Jenkins gave us this story that is specific, not universal, and that’s OK. It’s a story no one else was willing to tell – until now. I’m ecstatic that Moonlight won the big award for Best Motion Picture Drama but I don’t think one is enough. La La Land walked away from the Globes as the most decorated film in the show’s history. I’m sure La La Land is great but I have a hard time believing its screenplay is better than Moonlight’s.
Let’s talk about Mahershala Ali, 2016’s MVP of Hollywood. Not only did he steal every scene in Moonlight, he made us swoon in Hidden Figures, held his own in House of Cards and scared the sh-t out of us in Luke Cage. He deserves all the things. Not even Lainey’s obsession Aaron Taylor-Johnson can distract us from the fact that Mahershala Ali deserved the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture. It’s a career-making performance. It’s the performance that forced everyone to wake up and recognize Ali’s ability. If this man doesn’t win the Oscar, don’t even visit my Twitter timeline. It will just be full of all-caps rage.
There was a tweet going around about letting it sink in that this film, one about a black gay man coming of age, just won the biggest award at the Golden Globes and how amazing that is. That is wonderful, of course, but I don’t want to settle for just being grateful that Moonlight won any awards at all. A film of this calibre should break records. It has and should win A LOT of awards.
Here’s Jenkins, backstage after the film’s win, talking about telling Moonlight’s story authentically.
Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight, on telling a specific and not universal story pic.twitter.com/kAPsdomgKB
— April (@aprilsalud) January 9, 2017