Moonlight (2016)
This is the story of a lifetime
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.
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| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 21 October 2016 |
| Genre | Drama |
| Director | Barry Jenkins |
| Starring | Trevante Rhodes, André Holland and Janelle Monáe |
| Runtime | 112 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 9/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 98% · Metacritic 99/100 · IMDb 7.4/10 · TMDB users 7.4/10 |
| Budget | $2 million |
| Box office | $65 million worldwide |
Where to watch Moonlight
Moonlight is streaming on Netflix ($19.99 a month) in the US. If that is the only reason to subscribe, one month of Netflix is $19.99 at list price.
We check availability daily. Page last updated 29 October 2026. Prices are standard monthly plans and change often, so check with the service before you sign up.
Rent or buy
You can rent Moonlight on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube, Fandango at Home and Spectrum On Demand. It is also for sale on Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, YouTube and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Moonlight in 38 other countries
| Country | Streaming on (price a month) |
|---|---|
| Antigua & Barbuda | Prime Video |
| Argentina | Prime Video $5199 ARS |
| Australia | Prime Video $12.99 AUD, ARD/ZDF |
| Austria | Max €11.99 |
| Bahamas | Prime Video |
| Barbados | Prime Video |
| Belize | Prime Video |
| Bermuda | Prime Video |
| Bolivia | Prime Video |
| Brazil | Prime Video R$19.90 |
| Canada | Tubi |
| Chile | Prime Video $6490 CLP |
| Colombia | Prime Video $24900 COP |
| Costa Rica | Prime Video |
| Dominican Republic | Prime Video |
| Ecuador | Prime Video $5.99 |
| El Salvador | Prime Video |
| France | Paramount+, Max €10.99 |
| Germany | Max €11.99 |
| Guatemala | Prime Video |
| Guyana | Prime Video |
| Honduras | Prime Video |
| Jamaica | Prime Video |
| Japan | Hulu, U-NEXT ¥2189 JPY |
| Mexico | Prime Video $99 MXN |
| Monaco | Max |
| Netherlands | Netflix €9.99 |
| New Zealand | Prime Video $8.99 NZD |
| Nicaragua | Prime Video |
| Panama | Prime Video $5.99 |
| Paraguay | Prime Video |
| Peru | Prime Video S/25.90 |
| South Korea | Netflix ₩13500, Watcha |
| St. Lucia | Prime Video |
| Trinidad & Tobago | Prime Video |
| Turks & Caicos Islands | Prime Video |
| Uruguay | Prime Video $U249 |
| Venezuela | Prime Video |
Subscription, free and ad-supported services we track; prices where Binge Boss has a price list for the country. "About" marks a price the service bills in another currency, converted at the day's rate. All countries as data.
What kind of watch this is
Barry Jenkins splits a lifetime into three acts, letting a young man’s silence speak louder than his words. The film is 112 minutes long, a quiet duration that feels expansive because it refuses to rush the moments of connection. It is a drama that treats vulnerability as a structural element, not just a plot point. The pacing is slow, but the stillness is where the weight lives. It is a watch for people who prefer their films to breathe.
What the critics said
Critics barely left room for doubt. Rotten Tomatoes holds a 98% approval rating based on 402 reviews, while Metacritic scores it 99 out of 100. On both sites, it was the highest-scoring film released in 2016. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times called it "achingly romantic and uncommonly wise." Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York gave it five stars, praising Barry Jenkins’s direction. The consensus is near-universal, though not without friction. Jake Cole of Slant Magazine argued that "so much of the film feels old-hat." The film’s power, it seems, lies in what it withholds.
Awards
Moonlight took 9 awards from 15 nominations. The big ones came at the 89th Academy Awards, where it won Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Barry Jenkins. It also claimed the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama. The Best Picture win came with a famous envelope mix-up, a blunder that now lives in a museum case.
What came next for the cast
André Holland moved from a horror anthology and a rom-com to a sci-fi family film and a horror anthology again. The repetition is striking, yet he also landed a lead in a vampire drama. Ashton Sanders went from a music biopic to a superhero sequel and a political thriller. The jump in genre is jarring, like switching from a quiet library to a construction site. These are just the next jobs, not a direct result of the film.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched Moonlight.
Sources
- Moonlight on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q21527875 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “Moonlight (2016 film)” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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