Midnight Special
Director: Jeff
Nichols
Writer: Jeff
Nichols
Starring: Michael
Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Jaeden Lieberher, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver
Rating: Four stars
out of five
In limited release
now, opens in Chicago April 1
Near the end of
Midnight Special, Michael Shannon's character, Roy, bends to
his knee to look into his son Alton's (Jaeden Lieberher) eyes. They
have spent the film on the run from police, their former religious
community, and the United States government in order for Roy and his
childhood friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton) to bring Alton to a mysterious
field so he can do … something. It might be a religious
enlightenment for all of humanity. It might be the end of the world.
It might be first contact with alien life. No matter what, it's
frightening for all involved, because even those with the highest
amount of information are still largely in the dark about the
ultimate outcome of their journey.
Roy, who before the
events of the movie, had been kept from his gifted son for years, has
finally overcome the parental rustiness that accompanies their
situation as he meets his son eye-to-eye. Gone is the tough “this
is the way things need to be” posturing and the stress of trying to
avoid imprisonment or death everywhere they go. All that's left is a
weary honesty about their father-son dynamic built on a universal
truth about the relationship between generations.
“That's the
deal,” Roy says, referring to the notion that he will never stop
worrying about his son no matter what happens. No matter how grown up
Alton appears to be, no matter how in control of his surroundings –
supernaturally so in this case – Roy will have Alton on his mind
and do whatever it is he can to create a winning situation for his
son. But those attempts might be futile and Roy knows it. The mental
and emotional conflict of this message is obvious in the taut bulging
of Shannon's jaw, a forehead vein pumping, and eyes that cannot
guarantee success. He can only tell Alton that he will have his son's
back and will never stop loving him.
It's one beautiful,
low-key moment in a science fiction thriller filled with them. That's
because this is not a run-of-the-mill sci-fi adventure piece. It's a
sci-fi adventure piece by Jeff Nichols in his first major studio
project. Through three previous films, 2007's Shotgun Stories,
2011's Take Shelter (on the shortlist for best of the decade),
and 2013's Mud, Nichols has carved out a niche for himself as
a storyteller of the American South. His work focuses on the
anxieties and lessons learned by the working class – or the
downright destitute – of that region as they struggle to maintain
halfway comfortable lives in the face of change they cannot control.
None of this leaves his filmmaking when reworking his style to fit
the contours of a nervy chase picture, and it leaves Midnight
Special in a weird but exhilarating place as its genres tug at
each other to create something fascinating, even if not every element
is perfectly executed.
Midnight Special shows
some seams when it comes time to display the visual aspects of its
science fiction trappings. Whenever Alton's powers manifest
themselves, there is little more than some bright LED-style blue
lights that come out of his eyes. The CGI alternately appears to be
too much and too little for each incident, making it hard to gauge as
a viewer the extent of Alton's powers. This would not be an issue if
there was a gradual increase in the powers' scope, but some incidents
look weaker than ones that came before, creating a sense of confusion
that takes away from the dawning realization of how powerful this boy
is.
And
yet, the emotional impact of some of these instances is
extraordinary. The religious importance placed on Alton by the
family's former cult community gets to the heart of how aimless
people look for answers in things they don't understand. But others
within a community may not be true believers and they may have other,
darker impulses they wish to extract from their quasi-religious
ceremonies. There is power within Alton and those who possess him
hope to harness it for their own advancement or worse. It is left
unsaid, but there is a sexually predatory overtone to Alton's
“sessions” with older members of the cult. It is horrifying and
contextualizes the otherwise seemingly rash choices made by Roy and
Lucas to bring the boy to a place of safety.
The
only other minor deficiency of Midnight Special is
how it treats Kirsten Dunst's character, Sarah. Dunst fills her with
regret over the decisions that led to Alton being placed in danger,
but she is given little else to do within the plot of the film.
Unlike Jessica Chastain in Take Shelter or
Reese Witherspoon in Mud,
there is little else for Dunst to do with her female lead than to
look sad and wish for a better life for her son. It makes one wonder
whether character building moments for Sarah were left on the cutting
room floor, because Nichols has a history with this type of
character, and it is a good history.
Minor
quibbles aside, Midnight Special accomplishes
much. Its bass-heavy score by David Wingo is unsettling to the max,
leaving the entire theater shaking in otherwise quiet moments,
leaving the impression that nothing good can come when these
characters reach their destination. But the doom is leavened with
Adam Driver's NSA agent, a hapless middle management type tasked with
running an operation for an otherwise frightening and faceless
organization – he is a little out of his league and his boyish
curiosity of Alton and his family suggests he is not fully committed
to his employers' cause.
But
the film's core is placed in that parental moment of letting go. It
is too soon for Roy, but it would be too soon no matter when it
happened – whether Alton is 12 or 25 makes no difference. The
honesty he has about his love for his son, coupled with his position
of powerlessness to actually create a safe environment for Alton, is
the complicated stuff of great movies.
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