While there’s a number of features we’ve been looking forward to all year long (and beyond) that will be premiering on the fall festival circuit, it’s genuinely thrilling when an up-and-coming voice gets their chance in the spotlight. If we were putting money down, we’d bet the sleeper drama of the fall is Barry Jenkins‘ Moonlight, which is a three-part story spanning three time periods for a gay African-American man growing up in Miami. Ahead of a Toronto International Film Festival premiere, New York Film Festival screening, and October release, A24 has now released the fantastic first trailer.
“Barry Jenkins more than fulfills the promise of his 2008 romantic two-hander Medicine for Melancholy in this three-part narrative spanning the childhood, adolescence, and adulthood of a gay African-American man who survives Miami’s drug-plagued inner city, finding love in unexpected places and the possibility of change within himself,” the NYFF description reads. “Moonlight offers a powerful sense of place and a wealth of unpredictable characters, featuring a fantastic ensemble cast including André Holland, Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali—delivering performances filled with inner conflict and aching desires that cut straight to the heart.”
Check out the trailer below for the film starring Naomie Harris, André Holland, Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, and Jharrel Jerome.
MOONLIGHT is the tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.
Anchored by astonishing performances and the singular vision of filmmaker Barry Jenkins, MOONLIGHT is a groundbreaking exploration of masculinity-a sensual, intoxicating piece of cinema that uncovers deep truths about the moments that define us, the people who shape us most, and the ache of love that can last a lifetime
Moonlight opens on October 21st, 2016.