With an absent father and a junkie mother, Chiron grows up alone in a difficult Miami neighborhood. Bullied by his schoolmates, he is taken in one day by Juan and his girlfriend Teresa, who offer him a refuge. But Juan is a drug dealer who sells to Chiron’s mother. From his brutal childhood to the discovery of his sexuality, from innocence to his battle to find a place in society, the movie presents three important moments in Chiron's life.

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Together with Manchester by the Sea, this is the other great drama from the Oscars: Moonlight, the second movie by independent director Barry Jenkins. On paper, it is a prototype for the social drama, following the trajectory of a black, gay boy raised in a difficult Miami neighborhood by a drug addict mother. On-screen, the story is more subtle, less obvious: Moonlight is a tough film that resists being a tear-jerker despite its predictable plot. Better than its simplistic scenes, especially those about his mother, played by Naomie Harris, the movie is mostly filled with magnificent moments (a camera glance, a silence) in which the filmmaker demonstrates his formidable talent. The third part, starring the fantastic Trevante Rhodes, is certainly the best, the most astonishing and touching, offering undeniable proof that Jenkins bears watching.