Produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B, indie distributor A24 (“Ex Machina”) and Adele Romanski, “Moonlight” features a solid cast of actors including Naomie Harris, Andre Holland and Mahershala Ali. The trio are joined by relative newcomers Alex R. Hibbert and Jaden Piner, who were cast after an extensive casting call in the Miami area, where the film is set.
Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes and Jharrel Jerome round out the cast, with Janelle Monae also attached, her big screen debut in the film (along with Ted Melfi’s upcoming “Hidden Figures”).
The film, based on the play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue” by award-winning playwright Tarell McCraney, is a triptych drama about black queer youth, following Miami kids as they navigate the temptations of the drug trade and their burgeoning sexuality.