Midnight Special (2016)

Drama, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Director: Jeff Nichols
Writer: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver

"How far would you go to protect your child, even if you don’t fully understand them?"

Filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud) takes a stab at the sci-fi genre in his third collaboration with Michael Shannon (The Iceman, 99 Homes.)

Roy (Shannon) and his biological son Alton are on the run, fleeing from the Federal Government and a religious cult, that are both trying to get their hands on the young boy, who is apparently endowed with some sort of special powers.

Equipped with an appealing and enjoyable story, excellent action sequences and some pretty stunning visuals, a terrific cast – that also includes Joel Edgerton (The Gift), Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver – that brings plenty of emotion, Jeff Nichols's limited theater-release Midnight Special is a nostalgic throwback sci-fi movie that reminds of Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but also of the more recent Stranger Things, that proves once again that director Jeff Nichols is one of the most compelling storytellers of our time.

Plot summary from IMDb: Alton Meyer is a boy unlike any other in the world with bizarrely powerful abilities and strange weaknesses. In the middle of the night, his father, Roy, spirits him away from the isolated cult that practically worships him and is determined to regain him at all costs. At the same time, Alton's abilities have been noticed by the US government as well and they are equally insistent on getting to the bottom of this mystery with Paul Sevier of the National Security Agency leading the Federal pursuit with his own questions. These rival hunts force father and son into a desperate run towards a looming date with destiny that could change everything.

Awards: 1 win & 1 nomination.
Runtime: 112 min
PG-13