It always takes me a while to get around to watching smaller, quieter, more emotionally charged films like this just because they're more difficult to watch and write about than silly blockbusters or horror films or teen comedies or whatever. But this is a film that relies almost entirely on the acting to convey what's going on and these actors are completely up to the task of telling this story mostly through their faces and their body language. Of course the script is there but it's actually pretty sparse and that's fine. The way the characters speak to each other feels natural and you don't get that annoying movie thing of people explaining to each other things they should rightfully already know. You also get a lot of things going unspoken or being talked around which, again, feels natural. All of this is is assisted by some seriously beautiful and meaningful cinematography plus a gorgeous score. But seriously, the lion's share of what makes this film so good is the acting: especially Trevante Rhodes and André Holland who play the adult Chiron and Kevin and perfectly bring to life all the subtext and tension and fear and longing in their final agonizing scene together, but also Janelle Monáe and Naomie Harris as the two important female influences in Chiron's life, Ashton Sanders as the suffering, confused teenage Chiron, and Mahershala Ali as the brief but important paternal influence during "Little's" childhood. I will definitely be thinking about this one for a long time.
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