Not only is Juan silent in response, but he seems near tears. And when Chiron, after asking Juan if he sells drugs, asks if his Mom does drugs.
When Juan confronts Paula about how her drug use hurts Chiron, Paula mockingly asks him why, if he cares so much, he doesn't just stop selling drugs to her.
Appropriated Appellation: After originally disliking the nickname, Chiron eventually starts answering to "Black" in Atlanta.
Anguished Declaration of Love: The film ends with Chiron tearfully admitting his love for Kevin, who reciprocates.
Act 3 has Kevin reveal to be a father and admits that while he and his son's mother don't like each other, they do get along for their kid's sake. Chiron himself seems to spend a lot of his time in the "Black" segment figuring out whether Kevin is still attracted to men.
Ambiguously Bi: Kevin's sexuality is never identified explicitly, though he seems to be attracted to women as well as Chiron, and mentions that he fathered a child with one of his ex-girlfriends.
As an adult he manages to function behind a facade of normalcy but when he sees Kevin he regresses to his awkward self. Juan and Teresa respond by being kind and supportive, the kids at school respond by bullying him.
Ambiguous Disorder: In all three acts, Chiron acts a bit off in a manner that does not go unnoticed by the other characters.
All of the Other Reindeer: Chiron was viciously ostracized throughout his life.
Juan is portrayed as a likable, honest, genuinely nice guy who's a good father figure to Chiron - selling drugs is just his job. He's never seen pushing his product on anyone, and avoids discussing it with Chiron, until Chiron asks him point-blank if he's a dealer. While his job is never glamorized or portrayed as being okay, exactly, it's never demonized, either.
The Aggressive Drug Dealer: Averted with Juan.
If a person who has wronged you is sincerely repentant, it may enrich your life to forgive them, particularly if you were once close but are now estranged.
Poverty, in particular, tends to beget negative behavior as a result of the sheer desperation it causes those who suffer it.
Most people are ultimately simply trying to survive, and many of their most unpleasant actions are responses to social processes, unfortunate circumstances leaving them from few other friends, or other circumstances beyond their control.
Violence, while it may be momentarily satisfying, rarely solves anything in the long term, and often creates more problems than it solves.
While it may be a painful process, coming to an acceptance of one's true identity is crucial to finding long-term happiness.
Regardless, it can still be considered to possess a few clear themes:
An Aesop: The film overall relies on Show, Don't Tell for the vast majority of its storytelling, being particularly light on dialogue, and completely averts Author Tract the filmmakers seem to have deliberately intended the film to have as much applicability as possible.
Addiction Displacement: Paula has switched from drugs to regular cigarettes when apologizing to Chiron.
She gets better and expresses sincere regret for her actions in Act Three.
Abusive Parents: Paula, particularly in Act Two.
Moonlight contains examples of the following tropes: (After its awards win, it eventually rose to a $28 million domestic and $65 million worldwide gross, outdrawing its budget by at least sixteen times and possibly as many as forty-three note some sources have cited its budget as $1.5 million and others as $4 million). Moonlight is the first film with an all-black cast, the first LGBT-themed film, the second-lowest-grossing film domestically (adjusted for inflation, behind The Hurt Locker), and the lowest-budget film (adjusted for inflation) to win the Best Picture Oscar. Quite a lot of coverage of the awards focused more on the mistake than on the film itself, which garnered a fair amount of criticism in return. Infamously, it was subject to the most notorious mix-up in the history of the ceremony, as an envelope switch resulted in La La Land being announced as the Best Picture winner before the latter film's producer Jordan Horowitz announced the mistake. Among its many accolades, Moonlight was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ali), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Jenkins and McCraney).