In a just and fair world, Barry Jenkins would be a household name by now. The Miami native's superb directorial debut, the witty romantic drama Medicine for Melancholy, was released on January 30, 2009, ten days after the inauguration of Barack Obama. It's taken nearly the length of Obama's tenure for Jenkins to emerge with a new picture, but the wait has proved to be more than worthwhile.Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight is a moving, intensely atmospheric drama that charts three stages in the life of one character, Chiron: as a young boy, a teen, and a grown man.In each segment, Chiron struggles with his sexual identity while various figures move in and out of his life, including his disturbed, drug-addicted mother (British actress Naomie Harris), and an alternative maternal figure, luminously played by singer Janelle Monáe in her big-screen debut. Sumptuously shot and endlessly surprising, Moonlight feels entirely fresh in American cinema for how it grapples with the subject of black masculinity.Moonlight is also the first movie produced by A24 (best known as the distribution company behind the likes of Spring Breakers, The Lobster, and Ex Machina), with Brad Pitt serving as executive producer. Watch the trailer above.Follow Ashley Clark on Twitter.Moonlight opens in NY and LA on October 21.