(CNN) Two years after his Oscar triumph with "Moonlight," director Barry Jenkins has delivered another carefully polished gem in the form of "If Beale Street Could Talk," an adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel. Timely in its themes -- including African-Americans and the justice system -- it's one of those small movies that manages to make personal interactions feel epic.

Like "Moonlight," "Beale Street" -- the title of which is explained in an opening crawl -- defies simple description. But it is, at its core, a love story, albeit one where the central players face formidable challenges predicated on the notion that life -- especially as it pertains to young members of the black community -- isn't always fair.

Unfolding in part through flashbacks, the movie maintains the novel's voice through the narration of Tish (newcomer Kiki Layne, in a breakthrough performance), who has grown up in Harlem and, at the age of 19, fallen in love with Fonny (Stephan James, also featured in the Amazon series "Homecoming").

Fonny, however, is in jail, having been arrested for a crime he didn't commit, when Tish realizes that she's carrying his child. The pregnancy produces a mixed response from her parents (Regina King, "Fear the Walking Dead's" Colman Domingo) and his (Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis), though they rally around the notion of trying to find a way to exonerate Fonny, despite the hurdles that the system throws at them.

"Beale Street" thus unfolds on parallel tracks, alternating between the current situation that Tish faces and the arc of their romance, which makes the idea of the two being kept apart -- other than longing visits through prison glass -- all the more painful.

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