Review of Midnight Special (2016) by Belinda T — 12 Jun 2016

Loved this movie, for Director Jeff Nichols' ability to combine the mysterious, the super-natural, plus haunting and inspirational qualities all into one. Requires an intelligent audience who can put two and two together, and who don't need to have every detail of a movie's "why's" and "how's" spoon fed to them.

There is hope in this movie. There is some ambiguity throughout, leaving the audience's imagination to fill in the blanks (again, only an intelligent audience will be okay with this), but the ending then is so very climactic and SATISFYING! I really didn't expect so much detail and magnificent super-natural "effects" during the ending of the movie.

The acting was great and lead star Michael Shannon comes across as authentic, as a "real" father deeply concerned for his beloved child, and one can definitely feel the bond between child/father on screen.

The musical score is perfect and builds on the intensity of emotions expressed by the actors, while sound effects like the roar and growl of a car's engine almost anthropomorphize the material surroundings in a particular scene.

Ultimately, the movie reveals the predictability of human nature as a whole, how religious fanatics will interpret the "mysteries" of life as de-mystified biblical prophecy in all its certainty and stripped of ambiguity; and how governments will attempt to harness those mysteries for their never ending building of the military industrial complex.

In the end, it is only the love and acceptance of the boy's special mysteries and powers, as he is and on his terms, that ends up having the deepest meaning and resonance.