An exploration and chilhood dreaming

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2018)

Moonrise Kingdom has the spirit of a free child, dreaming of running away from all the bad things in their lives, and looking to connect with his/her childhood sweetheart. And you really feel like you are this child. The film has the power to transport you to your early ages, where dreams were more common, more romanticized and captured your deeper desires without all the strains that come with adulthood. But funny enough, this is a film for adults, with no appeal to children, I suppose. The nostalgia feeling is a trademark from writer director Wes Anderson, and although some may say that his style overshadows the meaningfulness of his stories, this does not happen in this film.
There is enough realism for us to connect as adults, and enough romanticism and surrealism to create unique feelings of childhood romance, and desires for escapism. It has an even bigger appeal to introverts, who will more easily connect with the main characters, who are tired of social constraints.
The film has a world of itself, a tiny island where everyone knows evereyone, and a lifestyle dictated by traditionalism and a superficial kindness that makes every adult hurt on the inside. For me, this is the strongest message of the film. It is not just nostalgic and romantic for the sake of it, but it carries a deeper meaning that we all must be more true to ourselves, and kinder to the people that really matter to us. This desire is expressed by two children that had enough, and ended up teaching the adults a valuable lesson of letting love take control of their actions, and being more sensitive to the world around them, and mainly the people around them.
It is indeed a very sensible film, that has very interesting artistic choices such as the depiction of the adults personalities, and the surrealism of extraordinary natural events (rain, fire, storm, thunder, explosions, etc).
The romance of the two children is lovely to watch. It forces us to question all the prejudices and restriction we have regarding children romantic and sexual maturity in our culture. As it approaches these subjects, it does so with such honesty and tenderness that it might sensibilize adults to look at these constrains from another perspective, a more natural and naive perspective something that only children can offer.