Structural Analysis of The Movie Moonlight

Moonlight is an intimate film that follows the struggle of a young black man trying to find himself against his society’s expectations of masculinity and identity. The film stands out for its structure in three acts, which highlights the fragility, mutability, and complexity of a person’s identity over time. The choice to cast three different actors for the three different times in Shyrone’s life reinforces the idea that we are not all the same people in stages of our life. The film also uses symbolism to express Chiron’s inner self. Moonlight is a beautifully artful film that expresses the search for the true self.