Midnight Special
Originally published on Alt Media
At its heart, Midnight Special is a tension filled chase movie come sci-fi thriller.
Centred around the cross country odyssey of Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), his father Roy (Michael Shannon) and their loyal companion Lucas (Joel Edgerton) as they evade the clutches of a mysterious government/military task force and strange cult leader. As the action unfolds, in a rather slow deliberate manner we’re introduced to the sci-fi elements of the film as we’re shown glimpses of Alton’s special abilities.
While these sci-fi elements are important to the film, the key focus here is on the relationship between father and son as Roy desperately tries to understand Alton while doing everything in his power to protect him as they attempt to reach their ultimate destination.
As the film draws to a close a majority of the threads come together whilst many are left unraveled and unanswered. The final 10-15 minutes of the film are likely the weakest section, which is rather disappointing. Thankfully the preceding story is fulfilling enough to make this one worth seeing for sci-fi fans looking for a film which tells it's story in a new unique way.
***1/2
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