Just six years after its release in 2016, Moonlight earned a spot in Sight and Sound magazine’s once-a-decade poll of the greatest films of all time. Few films have attained the status of a modern classic as quickly as this second feature by Barry Jenkins, which also netted three Oscars®, including Best Picture. Visually electrifying and emotionally nuanced, the humanist drama explores intersecting social pressures with uncommon empathy. Jenkins lends the pains of growing up a lyrical gravitas rarely afforded to stories of young Black men, but grounds introspection, hurt, and hope in a palpable authenticity.
Moonlight’s evocative cinematography also shines in Jenkins’ lo-fi debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy (2008). Both films wrestle with what modern Blackness might look like in places of increasing social inequality, and Jenkins portrays both cities and characters with vivid detail. Set over 24 hours in San Francisco, Medicine for Melancholy begins with an awkward one-night stand then morphs into a day of open-hearted walking and talking. Moonlight, meanwhile, presents three stages in the life of a struggling, sensitive man in Miami, where the occasional beach breeze at night provides the briefest of reliefs from the heaviness of the world. Tenderly written and soulful, Jenkins’ immaculate tales of hesitant love and the search for identity are astounding and profound.

Just six years after its release in 2016, Moonlight earned a spot in Sight and Sound magazine&#8217;s once-a-decade poll of the greatest films of all time. Few films have attained the status of a modern classic as quickly as this second feature by Barry Jenkins, which also netted three Oscars®, including Best Picture. Visually electrifying and emotionally nuanced, the humanist drama explores intersecting social pressures with uncommon empathy. Jenkins lends the pains of growing up a lyrical gravitas rarely afforded to stories of young Black men, but grounds introspection, hurt, and hope in a palpable authenticity.
Moonlight’s evocative cinematography also shines in Jenkins&#8217; lo-fi debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy (2008). Both films wrestle with what modern Blackness might look like in places of increasing social inequality, and Jenkins portrays both cities and characters with vivid detail. Set over 24 hours in San Francisco, Medicine for Melancholy begins with an awkward one-night stand then morphs into a day of open-hearted walking and talking. Moonlight, meanwhile, presents three stages in the life of a struggling, sensitive man in Miami, where the occasional beach breeze at night provides the briefest of reliefs from the heaviness of the world. Tenderly written and soulful, Jenkins&#8217; immaculate tales of hesitant love and the search for identity are astounding and profound.

Intimate Confessions: Two by Barry Jenkins

INTIMATE CONFESSIONS: TWO BY BARRY JENKINS

Few films have gained modern classic status as quickly as Moonlight, the DNA of which is present throughout Barry Jenkins’ lo-fi debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy. Tender and soulful, his immaculate tales of hesitant love and the search for identity are astounding and profound.

Few films have gained modern classic status as quickly as Moonlight, the DNA of which is present throughout Barry Jenkins&#8217; lo-fi debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy. Tender and soulful, his immaculate tales of hesitant love and the search for identity are astounding and profound.