Midnight Special ****
Filmmaker Jeff Nichols always gives us very real characters, ones that have to fight for their lot. It’s this passion that makes his work so remarkable and memorable, from Take Shelter (2011) to Mud (2012). His latest, sci-fi-toned addition, Midnight Special, is no different, using the element of the unexplained to further add complexity to what we understand as a ‘relationship’. Muse Michael Shannon takes centre-stage again, an actor with such an emotional resolve that we shudder at his inner turmoil, without a word ever passing his lips.
Shannon plays doting father, Roy, who goes on the run with his gifted but ‘poorly’ young son Alton (a brilliant Jaeden Lieberher), aided by old friend, ex-cop Lucas (Joel Edgerton on fine form). A religious sect and the Government are after Alton – the mystery is why?
It’s the power of the unknown that steers Nichols’s film. Its constant ambiguity prompts question after bigger question from its characters and its audience. Like all great 80s/90s sci-fi, there is an inherit paranoia surrounding events of the darker side of the authorities who want to control anything they don’t understand. This feeds our desire for father and son to reach whatever final destination they need to reach, whether it spells tragedy.
The casting is as exquisite as is the writing here, with Shannon and his retro, Fifties-hero screen presence a formidable contradiction of towering strength and crushing vulnerability. As his character progresses on this road movie he is constantly learning – as are we. The need for answers becomes overwhelming, sweeping you along in the narrative that is essentially a very basic one on paper. It’s intelligent filmmaking from Nichols who whips the status quo up into something far grander.
The special effects feel very real, ironically, even with a large dose of the supernatural. The ending conjures up feelings from first-time viewing of Cameron’s The Abyss (1989) too, which also made believable correlations between human/organic and alien existence, questioning man’s knowledge of the watery depths of our oceans. Midnight Special poses similar questions about the ‘after life’ with its juxtapositioning of science and religion.
As coaxing and hypnotic as the pace of Nichols’s films are, Midnight Special is not as even as Mud. There are some odd moments of unnecessary padding. It’s questionable as to how relevant Kirsten Dunst’s character Sarah (Alton’s mother) is, short of answering where Alton supposedly originated from. The story is really Shannon’s to help us understand Alton’s journey.
Midnight Special will delight fans of intelligent sci-fi, weary of current-day, big special effects and yearning to revisit man’s connection to the universe and beyond. Its magical quality makes it special, and the core relationship will tug hard at the heartstrings, without you realizing, until the very end, how deep an impact it has made.
4/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
