Alton (Jaden Lieberher), a super-powered kid who canāt control his powers, has been kidnapped from a cult by his father Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon) and his friend Lucas (Joel Edgerton). They take a very, very slow drive through very dark, nowhere roads while pursued by the cult that thinks the child is their salvation and by the government that knows heās gotten secret information. Along the way they pick up Altonās mother (Kirsten Dunst) so they can talk really slowly to someone else.
What if you wanted to remake Starman, but without the romance and far slower? Or if you wanted to redo Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but do it without the sense of wonder and at half speed? Then youād make Midnight Special, a science fiction film that doesnāt know anything about science fiction, but is hung up on tense, unhappy people expressing their tenseness and unhappiness as haltingly as possible. Why take thirty seconds to speak a line when you could do it in a minute? Why move when you can stand? Why speak at all when you can stare? And why light a scene when you can shoot in natural darkness. I cannot recall a film where I could see less.
Michael Shannon tones down his scenery-chewing from Man of Steel, but keeps the glum disposition. Heās always in slow burn mode. Iām beginning to think he lacks the muscles that allow smiling. Has he ever laughed? For two hours he embodies a man with a bad case of constipation.
A pre-Star Wars Adam Driver puts in the least intense performance, which makes him a breath of fresh air. I didnāt hate him, I just wasnāt interested. Everyone else, I hated.
When we come to the moment of revelation and wonder, it is given to us slowly with no excitement. Itās as if I went to a rival meeting and it took them fifteen minutes to say āJesus is goodā and no one was all that happy about it. And why not? This is like a confused revival meeting, worshiping 70s & 80s science fiction films without understanding them.
It picks up at the end, but it is far too late. And in finally explaining things, it is clear that the entire film has been a cheat. If you are going to cheat, at least make it fun.