MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

midnight special (2016) movie

Genre               |  Science Fiction

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   112 minutes

Released         |   30 April 2016

cast

​Michael Shannon ... Roy
Jaeden Lieberher ... Alton
Joel Edgerton ... Lucas
​Kirsten Dunst ... Sarah
​Adam Driver ... Sevier
Sam Shepard ... Calvin Meyer

director

Mike Nichols

writer

​Jeff Nichols ... (written by)

cinematographer

​Adam Stone

music

​David Wingo

film editor

Julie Monroe

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box office result

Worldwide             $6,212,282      ​ 

Australia                 $​​​76,011

North America        $​ 3,712,282     

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the best dialogue

Roy: The only thing I ever believed in was Alton. And I failed him.

Doak: Sometimes we are asked to do things that are beyond us.

Sevier: Is it too much to ask you to punch me in the face? No? Never mind.

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MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016) IMAGES

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Alton Meyer is a boy unlike any other in the world with bizarrely powerful abilities and strange weaknesses. In the middle of the night, his father, Roy, spirits him away from the isolated cult that practically worships him and is determined to regain him at all costs. At the same time, Alton's abilities have been noticed by the US government as well and they are equally insistent on getting to the bottom of this mystery with Paul Sevier of the National Security Agency leading the Federal pursuit with his own questions. These rival hunts force father and son into a desperate run towards a looming date with destiny that could change everything.

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (2016) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 29 April 2016
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the context of current popular cinema, Midnight Special genuinely challenges those who invest the time in Writer/Director Jeff Nichols' 112 minute science fiction government chase movie. Nichols’ latest film is a throwback to the 1970s and 1980s movie making of Directors like Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter, paying homage to films Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Starman. However, Midnight Special is also a rare gem of modern entertainment; an original science fiction tale backed by a major film studio (Warner Bros).  It's not without its faults and Nichols film will not be regarded as a “Classic”, but it is a thought-provoking story and confirms its maker as a genuine talent with the ability to deliver meaningful cinema.

Midnight Special is the story of Alton Mayer (Jaeden Lieberher), a young boy who has been kidnapped by his father Roy (Michael Shannon). In its opening minutes, Midnight Special has very little dialogue between its main characters and the audience is invited into the story through the background news reports heard on the radio and television advising the public of Alton’s abduction. The reality is very different, as Alton is very much at ease with his father and his accomplice Lucas (Joel Edgerton) as they use the cover of darkness to throttle across Texas in their effort to avoid capture. Nichols layers the first part of the story extremely well and the viewer learns that Alton has lived his life at a religious cult under the care of his adoptive father Calvin Mayer (Sam Shepard), the group’s leader. While Nichols keeps his exposition to a minimum, it becomes clear that Roy and Alton’s mother Sarah (Kirsten Dunst) have decided that Alton needs to be rescued from Mayer and his cult for the sake of the young boy’s very existence. Matters are further complicated when the FBI raid Mayer’s cult after finding they are in possession of top secret government information. When pressed on how they came to have the information, Mayer tells them that it came to them by way of Alton’s extraordinary gifts.

The mystery of the film’s first half is extremely effective. Roy and Lucas endure a number of near-misses with law enforcement, former cult members and malfunctioning military technology. Successive events see an escalation in Alton's unexplained powers, but also a corresponding deterioration in his physical state. Despite protests from Lucas, Roy insists that Alton will be okay and they all have to remain focussed on getting the boy to an undisclosed destination in order to ensure his well being. Each successive episode draws more attention from the FBI and other US government organisations and, eventually, NSA Analyst Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) becomes involved as the subject matter expert on Alton’s case. Alton and Sevier eventually cross paths, leading to one of Midnight Special’s most effective sequences; delivering on Nichols’ stated intention for the movie. The film’s finale will not be to everyone’s liking, as Nichols struggles to find a way out of the corner into which he has written himself. There’s one glaring gap in the film’s plot that allows a key character to aid Alton, Roy, Sarah and Lucas, yet, in the epilogue, this same person appears to have had no repercussions for their earlier actions. It’s too much of a stretch to believe given everything that has happened.

A degree of story logic aside, all the characters in Midnight Special are well developed and the actors deliver excellent, yet restrained performances that support the film’s overall tone. Michael Shannon leads the way and his understated Roy is that of a man who knows he has a mission to complete, he just doesn’t know its purpose. Joel Edgerton again shows his skill as a consummate character actor and his matter-of-fact delivery captures Lucas perfectly. Adam Driver continues to demonstrate his versatility with his portrayal of Paul Sevier, while Sam Shepard adds a hard-bitten edge to the film as Calvin Mayer. Kirsten Dunst, while not a revelation, goes beyond viewer expectations and is a far cry from her efforts as Mary-Jane Watson in the comic book-inspired extravaganzas that were Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. At its heart though, Midnight Special’s success or failure was always going to be based on whether the actor cast as Alton was believable. Fortunately, Nichols has excelled in his selection and Jaeden Lieberher brings a subtle mix of innocence and poignancy to the young boy who is as much enthralled reading a comic book for the first time as he is knowing that he is imbued with extraordinary powers. Midnight Special may be a lesser movie than the science fiction classics to which it aspires, but, without doubt, it is a fine film that makes both your head and your heart get involved in what Jeff Nichols has to share with you.

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