If you would do a search on IMDB for director Jeff Nichols you’d find out that he only has five movies to his name. You might also think it means he’s not een experienced person, but take a little bit more time to look at the titles and you’ll soon realize that he’s someone who has managed to impress in a very short time with films like Mud and Take Shelter. In those movie the always impressive Michael Shannon played a role, which is also the case for his latest, Midnight Special, where the two have hooked up again. The end result is a movie which shouldn’t be missed.
The film opens with a news item stating that a boy, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), has been kidnapped. The man responsible is thought to be his father Roy (Michael Shannon). Soon you’ll find out that Roy, together with Lucas (Joel Edgerton) have a reason for doing this. Alton turns out to be a very special kid, who has special abilities. And it’s not only the police who tries to locate them, a religious group also wants to get the boy.
If there is one thing which I really enjoyed with this movie it was its mysterious atmosphere. From the start you wonder why Alton is so special, why everyone wants to get their hands on him and where his father wants to take him. Nichols succeeds in keeping that mystery unclear till near the end. It’s something not everyone will be patient enough to find out, but I thought it was done fantastically. Even though Midnight Special is set in the present it feels like you´re watching something from the eighties-nineties as its vibe feels like a movie from that era. The personal relationships are really well fleshed out and it quickly becomes clear how much Roy is willing to do for his son, no matter the consequences. This is a film about unconditional love and Nichols succeeds in bringing that to the screen in this slow burner.
Hi Nostra! This is gonna be available to rent in mid June and I’ll be all over this. I like the premise and love Shannon and Edgerton!
Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!
This was an amazing film as well as the fact in how touching it is. I was actually moved a bit by the father-son relationship. Especially the moment where Michael Shannon says “I enjoy worrying about you” to his son. That is what a father is and should be.
I heard he based the movie on his own experiences as a father, which you really get a sense of in this movie with Shannon’s character slowly having to let him go to find his own way in the world.
Great review, and I’m glad someone else liked this one too! Slow burner is right 🙂
I can understand the mixed feelings, but I really enjoyed it.