Well, this is yet another much-hyped Oscar winner that I found grossly overrated. First of all it's about 10 to 15 minutes too long. Now don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, it's just not worthy of the over-the-top praise that I've heard. All of the characters are very stereotypical: the drug-addicted mother, the drug dealer with a heart, the school bullies, the down-low boyfriend that caves to peer pressure and betrays Chiron. The story is very surface level and didn't get to me emotionally.
I really think that much of the praise was due to Moonlight being a coming of age story about a gay black male from the hood.
The performances were okay, no complaints there. I give this film a solid C.