Genre theory involves categorizing films that have similar content or attributes. These attributes include settings, characters, and the techniques used for filming. All of these aspects play a role in the viewer's expectations of what they will be watching before actually seeing the film. (Goodykoontz et al., 2019a) The genre discussed in this paper will be the drama genre. The 2016 corning of age drama film Moonlight directed by Barry Jenkins, will be the example to assist readers in identifying its conventions and understanding films that are categorized as drama films.

Drama films often have realistic storylines that are relatable to viewers. Most drama films show the development of the main character. This progression allows the audience to get to know the character and be emotionally moved by that character's story. Different scenes with low-key lighting involving the character facing an issue or having a real struggle are familiar attributes in many drama films. (Dercksen, 2017) The drama film Moonlight is told in three life stages. In the first chapter titled "little," Chiron, a young, black, poor boy, struggles to fit in the hood where he lives. He is given the nickname "little" by the neighborhood kids being as though he is the smallest, and he refuses to talk to anyone but his friend Kevin. Chiron is chased home from school and teased every day by the other children because he is different. His friend Kevin tries to help him toughen up with a wrestling match in the school field after a kickball game with a few other kids in the neighborhood. Chiron is chased home from school one day into a boarded- up space in his hood used for drug dealing when he is spotted by the top dealer in the neighborhood, Juan. Juan, played by Mahershala Ali, finds "little" and convinces him to come out of his hiding space to get something to eat. Juan attempts to get Chiron to talk, and he isn't very successful. Juan is concerned about how to get the little boy he helped back home. He decides to take Chiron with him to his home, where he lives with his girlfriend Teresa, played by Jenelle Monae, hoping that she would be able to get him to talk to them. After Teresa Cooks for Chiron, he finally tells the couple his name and where he lives. Teresa offers for Chiron to stay the night to rest up. Juan takes Chiron home the next morning only to recognize his mother as one of his regular customers of the drug he supplies. Due to her drug habit, Paula, played by Naornie Harris, lashes out at Chiron and often leaves smoking pipes lying around the two live in. Chiron soon becomes comfortable enough with being around Juan and Teresa. He opens up and shares with Juan that he hates his mother. Juan expresses how he hated his mother to Chiron, which allowed Chiron to talk some more and ask Juan and Teresa some questions about sexuality. Chiron then asked Juan about his mother's drug habit saying, "My morn do drugs, right?" He then goes on to ask if Juan sold drugs. Juan reluctantly admitted to Chiron that he supplied the drugs that his mother uses. Chiron stops speaking again, lowers his head, and leaves Juan's home. We don't see where Chiron goes after he leaves Juan's house. The film takes us into Chiron's teenage years. Chiron still struggles to fit in. He also struggles with who he is and sexuality now that he is in high school. Chiron is now being bullied by the school bully Terrel.

Terrel and his crew push Chiron's only friend Kevin to beat him for credibility violently. This drives Chiron to react the next day by going after Terrel and hitting him in the back with one of the school's wooden chairs.

Chiron is taken into custody, and the story takes the audience into the third chapter of the film titled "Black." This chapter shows Chiron as an adult. His mother is in a rehabilitation home, but he has taken on a drug dealer's lifestyle in the neighborhood where he grew up.   Chiron reunites with his childhood friend Kevin after Kevin reaches out to him through his mother.  The two now grown men reminisce over a meal cooked by Kevin, who has become a restaurant cook. After their dinner together, Chiron reveals to Kevin that he is the only male who has ever shown him any intimacy type. At the ending and point of the movie, Chiron comes to terms with his sexuality as a gay black man.

Often in drama genres, a common convention is where a single mother struggles to independently raise a child. (Dercksen, 2017) Paula is a single mother whose drug habit prevents her from being a good mother to Chiron. Another convention in drama films is intense interactions between characters. Chiron is caught daydreaming in a class by his teacher. Terrel, the school bully, begins to taunt him by making inappropriate homophobic slurs toward Chiron in front of the other students. Terrel calls Chiron "little," which triggers Chiron to speak up for himself. "That's not my name." Chiron's response causes Terrel to become angry and threatens to beat him up after school lets out. The realistic setting of Moonlight is the third convention for it to be a drama film. The setting of the film takes place in a poor neighborhood in Miami. When Chiron is a child, he is playing with some of the other boys in the community. The boys are using a bunch of balled up newspaper as their football. In more realistic settings like Chiron in his teenage years, we see him in high school facing everyday issues of fitting in and self-discovery.

In Conclusion genres help categorize a film by its content and attributes. Film genres allow the audience to have expectations and get an idea of what they will be viewing before they see the film. Moonlight (2016) is a true example of the drama genre because it exhibits key elements of a drama film. Barry Jenkins stretched boundaries with this film by involving real life struggles within the LGBTQ community.