Midnight Special (film)

Midnight Special

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jeff Nichols
Produced by
Written by Jeff Nichols
Starring
Music by David Wingo
Cinematography Adam Stone
Edited by Julie Monroe
Production
company
  • Faliro House Productions[1]
  • Tri-State Pictures[1]
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • February 12, 2016 (2016-02-12) (Berlin)
  • March 18, 2016 (2016-03-18) (United States)
Running time
 111 minutes[2]
Country
Language English
Budget $18 million[4]
Box office $6.2 million[5]

Midnight Special is a 2016 American-Greek science fiction film written and directed by Jeff Nichols, and produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. The film stars Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, and Jaeden Lieberher.[6] The film is Nichols' fourth full-length film and his first studio production.[7] It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.[8]

The story revolves around Roy and his biological son, Alton Meyer, escaping from both the government and a cult, after discovering that Alton has special powers. The film began a theatrical release on March 18, 2016 by Warner Bros. Pictures, expanding wider in subsequent weeks.

Plot

In a motel, Roy Tomlin watches an AMBER alert for 8-year old Alton Meyer, who is sitting on the floor. The reports describe Roy and his companion Lucas as Alton's abductors, but they treat the boy with great care.

At the Ranch, a religious cult in rural Texas, Pastor Calvin Meyer dispatches two of his parishioners to retrieve Alton. He then faces his congregation as the FBI storms their church. Agent Paul Sevier asks Calvin how numbers sent via encoded satellite transmissions made their way into his sermons. Calvin explains that Alton speaks in tongues and gave the numbers to Calvin. As Alton's powers grew, his mother abandoned him, and members of the Ranch have been raising him.

After a violent confrontation with a state trooper, Roy and Lucas seek cover at the home of a former Ranch member named Elden. During the night, an earthquake seems to wake Roy and Lucas. When they break down the door to Alton's room, they find him communing with Elden by shooting blinding beams of light directly from his eyes into Elden's. Roy knocks Elden out and covers up Alton, who is extremely photosensitive. They take Elden's van and continue on toward a location that Alton specified. Members of the Ranch seem to know this location, but the FBI is desperately trying to figure out where the trio are headed.

When they stop at a gas station, Alton seems to create a meteor shower. They drive to Sarah Tomlin's house, and she is overjoyed to be reunited with her son. As they watch the news together, it is revealed that the gas station was destroyed by a weather satellite. Alton explains that he caused the satellite to crash because the cops were using it to track him. As Sarah and Roy put Alton to bed, it becomes clear that Roy is the boy's father.

As the fugitives, now including Sarah, continue their trek, Alton appears to be growing sick and weak. He convinces Roy to let him see the daylight, while Lucas and Sarah go ahead to a motel. After witnessing his first sunrise, Alton's eyes begin to glow, and an enormous dome of light surrounds the duo. They reunite with Lucas and Sarah, and Alton is healthy. He explains that seeing the sun helped him realize his true identity. He explains that there is a world above this one, and that he belongs to it. Roy confirms that he briefly saw this hidden world inside the dome of light.

When they leave the hotel room, they are ambushed by Calvin's trackers, who abduct Alton but are soon captured by the police. Alton is taken to a government facility where he insists that he will only talk to Sevier. After demonstrating his powers to Sevier, he convinces the agent to help him reunite with his parents. Having deduced their destination from Calvin's sermons, Sevier warns the fugitives that there is a 5-mile perimeter around the location.

Roy barrels through a roadblock, driving inside the perimeter as the Army scrambles to chase them. Alton and Sarah exit the car and run off into the woods. Roy and Lucas lead the Army on a wild goose chase. Alton and Sarah crash through the woods and onto the edge of a swamp. There, Alton creates an enormous dome of light that engulfs much of the Florida panhandle. Everyone inside it can see the futuristic structures of another world. Eventually, beings of pure light gather around Alton, and the entire dome disappears, taking Alton with it.

Roy and Lucas are arrested. Lucas is interviewed by the FBI. He tells them the story, but they are unsatisfied. Sevier then enters to interview him, with Roy the only one aware of Sevier's previous involvement. Sarah cuts and dyes her hair to conceal identity. The film ends with an incarcerated Roy wearing an electroencephalography device, his eyes glowing faintly watching the sunrise.

Cast

Production

Principal photography commenced on January 20, 2014[9] and took place for 40 days in New Orleans, wrapping on March 1, 2014.[10] The film was produced by Sarah Green and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, with Glen Basner and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos as executive producers.[11]

Midnight Special is backed and primarily distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, with UK distribution handled by Entertainment One.[12] Warner Bros initially set the film for a November 25, 2015 release,[13] but in July 2015 moved the date back to March 18, 2016.[14]

Release

Warner Bros. released the film was released on March 18, 2016, in the US.[5] Warner Home Video released the film on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US on June 21, 2016.[15]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 84% approval rating based on 194 reviews; the average rating is 7.3/10. The site's consensus reads, "Midnight Special's intriguing mysteries may not resolve themselves to every viewer's liking, but the journey is ambitious, entertaining, and terrifically acted."[16] On Metacritic, the film had a score of 76 out of 100 based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club described the "Spielberg-esque" science fiction chase film as "more of a genre piece than anything Nichols has done, carried by its steady momentum and its engrossing sense of mystery." He praised Midnight Special for Nichols' visual style and an "embarrassment of wonderful performances".[18]

Others, however, were less enthusiastic. Benjamin Lee, writing for The Guardian, felt that Nichols was "making a concerted effort to stake his claim as a hit-maker, a director who can appeal to a wide audience with a timeless adventure. He's even talked about how it's essentially a homage to both E.T. and Close Encounters. Sadly, the Spielbergian magic that Nichols so desperately wants to recreate is almost entirely absent from the end product and without it, there's something disappointingly lifeless instead."[19]

References

  1. 1 2 Debruge, Peter (February 12, 2016). "Film Review: 'Midnight Special'". Variety. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ "MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Midnight Special (2015)". British Film Institute. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  4. ↑ Dawes, Amy (Fall 2014). "From Indie to Mainstream". dga.org. Directors Guild of America. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Midnight Special (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  6. ↑ Sneider, Jeff (November 21, 2013). "Adam Driver Joins Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst in WB's Sci-Fi Drama 'Midnight Special'". TheWrap.com. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  7. ↑ Lodge, Guy (August 13, 2013). "Kirsten Dunst joins Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton in Jeff Nichols' 'Midnight Special'". HitFix.com. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Berlinale 2016: First Films for Competition and Berlinale Special". Berlinale. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, Kevin (August 7, 2013). "Jeff Nichols, The Director Of 'Mud', Talks About His New Sci-Fi Movie, 'Midnight Special'". MTV. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  10. ↑ "PRODUCTION HOTLINE". louisianaentertainment.gov. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ Fleming, Mike, Jr. (May 8, 2013). "Michael Shannon To Reteam With 'Mud' Helmer Jeff Nichols On Warner Bros Project". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  12. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (June 4, 2013). "eOne takes Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special for UK". ScreenDaily. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Warner Bros Pushes Ben Affleck's 'Live By Night', Dates 'Midnight Special' & 3 Others". Deadline Hollywood. May 6, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  14. ↑ Petski, Denise (July 28, 2015). "Jeff Nichols' 'Midnight Special' Pushed Into 2016". Deadline.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  15. ↑ Spurlin, Thomas (June 21, 2016). "Midnight Special (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Midnight Special (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Midnight Special reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  18. ↑ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (March 17, 2016). "Midnight Special is a unique blend of chase flick and sci-fi parable". AVClub.com. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
  19. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/12/midnight-special-review-jeff-nichols-joel-edgerton-michael-shannon
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