HIDDEN GEM: Midnight Special Review

Granted, with the talent involved and the fact it’s less than a year since Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special came out, this isn’t the most obscure pick. However, the meagre $6.2 million in box office takings makes it a choice many wouldn’t have seen, so back the fuck off.

Midnight Special is a sci-fi mystery thriller that is in equal parts intriguing and exciting. The ever-dependable Michael Shannon plays Roy, the father of a boy with mystical powers sought after by both FBI agent Adam Driver and a religious cult they used to belong to, determined to protect him from their pursuers. Along for the ride is Lucas (another strong turn for actor Joel Edgerton in a year also filled with praise for Nichols’ other film Loving) and Roy’s wife Sarah. Sadly, Kirtsen Dunst is given little to do in her role.

Nichols deliberately channels hints of Spielberg, which is probably wise when the plot is broadly similiar to ET. The product is watchable in its own right without having to pay homage or package itself as Spielberg-esque, with a certain timeless quality that could set it in the 80s or 2010s. Admittedly, the payoff won’t satisfy all, but the mix of fugitive suspense and economic sci-fi telekinesis (in particular the petrol station sequence) makes it a pleasing, heartfelt film that deserves to be – and no doubt will become – a cult classic.

FOUR STARS, PRETTY DAMN GOOD – Luke