The truth is that Damien Chazelle’s modern musical, made with more money, starring more famous people, and offering the perfect means of escaping Trump’s America through the fantasy created by movie magic, will probably take home this year’s Oscar for Best Picture.

But what about Barry Jenkins’ film, Moonlight? If it loses to La La Land, what will the future have to say about such a loss? Ten years from such a scenario, will it be possible to hear people say that La La Land actually deserved the award or will the second most popular choice, Moonlight, join the long list of films (Brokeback Mountain, Raging Bull, The Wizard of Oz, etc.) that have failed to win Best Picture and yet have emerged as classics and, in most cases, have later been recognized as better than the films they lost to.

Compelling cases can be made for Hollywood’s highest honour to be given to both films this year, but Moonlight is the focus of this week’s review if only because it feels as though some of the film’s mysteries are still yet to be uncovered, while La La Land wears its themes and ideologies on its proverbial sleeve.

The plot of Moonlight focuses on a young boy named Chiron, living with his crack-addict mother. Chiron eventually befriends a crack-dealer named Juan and his girlfriend, Teresa. The film focuses on three stages of Chiron’s life: as a child, as a teenager, and as an adult, highlighting not only his growth to manhood, but also the ways in which he copes with the society from which he comes and the ways in which he handles his burgeoning homosexuality.

Chiron as a child is meek and quiet and it is one of the reasons why the other boys bully him. His relationship with Juan (Mahershala Ali) and Teresa (Janelle Monaé) is probably the best thing in his life at this point in the film and it becomes more obvious when his relationship with them is contrasted with the relationship he has with his neglectful and abusive mother, Paula (Naomie Harris).

Mahershala destroys stereotypes by presenting a dealer who has a paternal and caring side. It is a performance that cannot be carried by all actors, as there are sure to be some who are unable to balance the two opposing personas that are represented by Juan. Ali’s major feat is the way he is able to humanize Juan, making movie audiences from all walks of life place their trust in a drug dealer. Monaé is a good actress and although she is mostly known for her music, her performance in Moonlight and another outstanding film this year, Hidden Figures, are sure to make people take note of her acting abilities. Hopefully she gets good roles and continues to be in film.

Naomie Harris, as Paula, in my opinion, gives the best performance in this film. The range of accents she has had to perform for her diverse film roles in her acting career is beyond exemplary. She is a stunning and commanding actress and her Academy Award nomination, though late (she should have been nominated in the same category for playing Winnie Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom), is definitely well deserved. Harris’ portrayal of Paula is raw and compelling to watch. Her depiction of a drug-addict mother is unnerving and she nails arguably the best scene in the film, when Juan and Paula have a confrontation, managing to sum up the character’s rage and inner emotional turmoil and it is truly a piece of acting that everyone needs to see. Sure, I love Viola Davis and I want her to win the Supporting Actress Oscar this year, and yet, there is still a part of me that knows Harris deserves to win as well.

As our protagonist grows into a surly, soft-spoken teenager (played by the remarkable Ashton Sanders), we follow him as he meanders through the tough halls of high school and we see when he kisses his best friend, Kevin, in the early morning hours on the beach. This scene (probably one of the purest, most beautiful, kisses I have ever seen in a film) is stunningly shot and it is a reminder of how stark and pretty the cinematography manages to be even as the film reveals dark and troubling aspects of Chiron’s life. A death and a violent attack intersperse with the film’s beautiful moments, reminding us that Moonlight is about real life.

Barry Jenkins, the director and screenwriter, does not give us a truly happy ending. Chiron grows up to be a drug dealer. He has moved away from home and is successful in his business. However, he is alone and he is affected by it until Kevin (now played by the capable André Holland), from whom he has become estranged, calls him and invites him to come back home. The film’s last series of scenes are only able to infuse so much emotion into the audience because of everything that has come before. Moonlight is a hopeful, stereotype-defining, earth-shaking, soul-soothing movie, and although the ending is not an exactly happy one, it is certainly, thankfully, not sorrowful.