Maps of Movies

Moonlight (2016)

Where Moonlight says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

Three Miami chapters of one life, and a swimming beach that is a historic landmark.

Scenes and places

Juan finds Little in Liberty City

Juan, a drug dealer, finds a withdrawn boy nicknamed Little hiding from bullies in a crackhouse. He takes the child in for a night, and a fragile father-son bond starts.

Set in Liberty City, Miami — The Miami neighbourhood, at the height of the crack epidemic, where Juan finds a withdrawn child hiding from bullies. Google Maps · Apple Maps

Liberty Square is a public housing project in Miami's Liberty City, where both the director and the playwright grew up.

Filmed at Liberty Square, Liberty City (Liberty City, Miami, United States) — A primary location of the film; the source does not say which scenes were shot where. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Juan teaches Little to swim

Juan carries Little into the waves and teaches him to float, holding him up until the boy trusts the water. It is the moment the child first lets someone look after him.

Set in The sea where Juan teaches Little to swim — A stretch of ocean beach; the film does not name where it is.

A historic Miami beach opened in 1945 for African Americans when swimming was segregated.

Filmed at Virginia Key Beach Park, 4020 Virginia Beach Dr (Virginia Key, Miami, United States) — Filmed here: the beach where Juan takes young Chiron to teach him to swim. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Chiron and Kevin on the beach at night

Teenage Kevin visits Chiron on the beach. They smoke and talk about their ambitions and the nickname Kevin gave him, "Black". A kiss follows, the first real intimacy in Chiron's life.

Set in The beach near Chiron's house — A beach near Chiron's home where Kevin visits him at night.

Miami Beach's best-known stretch of sand, here standing in for a quiet night beach.

Filmed at South Beach, Miami Beach (South Beach, Miami Beach, United States) — One news article says the kiss scene was shot on South Beach; the coordinate is the neighbourhood centre, not a precise spot. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Kevin cooks for Chiron at the diner

Grown-up Chiron drives to Miami to see Kevin, who cooks him a meal. Kevin asks how he has changed, and Chiron answers little. Kevin plays a song on the jukebox that made him think of him.

Set in The Miami diner where Kevin works — The diner where Kevin works as a cook and where Chiron drives from Atlanta to see him.

A small breakfast-and-lunch diner on Biscayne Boulevard, once a seedy stretch of road.

Characters

• Chiron — A shy Miami boy known as Little, then Chiron, then Black, followed across three chapters.
• Juan — A drug dealer who becomes a father figure to Chiron.
• Kevin — Chiron's childhood friend and romantic interest.