MIDNIGHT SPECIAL


US, 2016, 111 minutes, Colour.
Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, Sam Shepard, Sean Bridgers, Bill Camp, Scott Haze.
Directed by Jeff Nichols.

Jeff Nichols may not be a well-known name for a film director but in the audience who has seen his films, Take Shelter and Mud, will know that he is the director of great interest. And, while Midnight Special may not be as impactful as the previous two films, it is still a film that commands some attention.

Nichols has said in interviews that he was impressed during his younger days by films which dealt with aliens – benign aliens, especially Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to which this present film pays some homage, to’s ET and Starman, films from the 1970s and 1980s.

However, it begins in an arrest in vain, two men at night conducting a little boy, setting out on a journey that is mysterious with a gradual revelation that the boy himself is mysterious, needing to stay in the dark. But, as the story progresses, the two men around the side of good. They are played by Michael Shanahan, often a sinister character, plain the boy’s father and Joel Egerton playing a local policeman. one of the great advantages of the film is the performance by Jason Leibler as And to mysterious boy.

The scene shifts to The Ranch, the home of a cult group, said by Sam Shepard, were interrogated by the police, especially about their predictions for the end of the world. Behind the scenes, the leader sends some of his henchman to track and the boy, bring him back, because his entrances key is for the date of the apocalypse.

Most of the film is a road journey, the two men with the boy, initially taking refuge with a former disciple of the H The Ranch and then on to find the boy’s mother, played by Kirsten Dunst. A lot of the drama is even interlude and the pursuers. And a lot of the drama concerns the health of the boy, his fragility, his inability to be in the light and growing audience curiosity as to who is, whether he is human or not, despite his parents.

Also in the drama representatives of the police, the FBI, and national security organisations, especially in the form of Paul said via, played by as driver Adam Driver whom the boy himself chooses as the means for communication.

There is some suspense intention as the appointed day approaches and it is necessary for his father to get the boy to the special place – at which the film becomes something of a 21st century Close Encounter.

The screenplay does not offer detailed explanations of what happens but it draws the audience in, and empathy with the characters and their flight as well as the anticipation of what the appointed day will bring.

While the title of the film refers to a song, it is a pity that it does not have a more dynamic title with indications of character and plot.

1. The impact of the film? Drama? Science fiction?

2. The work of the director, his reputation? The strong cast, and usual?

3. The title, the final credits song and light shining from the midnight special?

4. A road movie, the road at night, during the day, the gas station, homes, the countryside, the swamps and fields? The visuals of the alternate world?

5. Introduction to Roy and Lucas, good or bad, performing the abduction? The television information? The woman ringing the police?

6. The introduction to the Ranch, the head, the two men and is commissioned to find the boy? Speaking to his flock? The sermons, the repetition of the numbers? The hope that the boy would bring salvation? The search for him to bring him back? Unscrupulous? The FBI, the attack on the Ranch, taking all the residents, the range of interviews, the information gained?

7. On the road, Elden and his compliance, the goggles, in the back, reading the comics, asking questions, his being kept in the dark? The accident on the road, turning off the car lights, the deputy, confrontation, the shooting, the injured woman? Getting to Elden’s house, the welcome, the room, his missing the Ranch, the light in the boy’s eyes, Roy hitting him, taking the boy? Stopping forgiveness, provisions, his walking out into the road, the woman accosting him, the satellite and its explosion, the escape?

8. Information about Roy, his parents, been taken to the Ranch, his wife, her not able to look after the boy, his mission to save him?

9. Background on Lucas, friend from school days, state trooper, responding to Roy’s request to help, his reaction to the shooting of the deputy, his concern about the boy’s health?

10. Alton, intelligent, a sheltered life, his knowledge, speaking in tongues, coinciding with the radio station in the car? Sick, by the side of the road?

11. His mother, her story? The plans, travelling along the road, the decision to separate and for the boy to go with Roy?

12. Venturing out into the daylight, the change, Alton able to see in the day, the new experience?

13. Levi and his associate, finding the motel, the shots, taking the boy? The irony of the chase by Roy and Lucas, the hold-up on the road, seeing that the FBI had taken the boy?

14. The FBI, the interrogations, the head, Paul Sevier arriving, the interrogations, his looking at the codes, realising the destination? His national security background?

15. Alden captured, seen both sitting and standing, refusing to answer the questions of the childcare operator, wanting Sevier, everybody out? Talking, their escape, Sevier making contact, the coordinates, bringing him in the car?

16. Tackling the roadblocks, the side road, crashing through the barrier? Alden and his mother going by themselves? The two men crashing in the car and its overturning?

17. The vision of the city, huge, a close encounter? The mother watching, the boy watching, the farewell, con?

18. The mystery of the boy’s origins, his powers, the fact that he was taken to the Ranch, the religious interpretation, national security and satellites, detecting nuclear explosions, testing the debris at the gas Station?

19. The end, Paul Sevier interrogating Lucas? The mother cutting her hair? Ron the wires on his head?

20. The film and its links to the science fiction genre, Close Encounters, Starman, ET…? The 21st century interpretation and imagining?