Review of Midnight Sun (2018) by Liz B — 22 Apr 2018

Katie Price, a home-schooled high schooler has a rare, life-threatening condition where she cannot be in the sun. She has incredibly strong bonds with both her father and a friend from childhood. Her love for music, specifically the guitar, leads her to meet Charlie, a boy who she has seen through her window and crushed on for years. Since Katie cannot be outside during the day, each night is an adventure for her and Charlie. Everything is up in the air when her disease progressively gets worse and Charlie finds out about it. Katie struggles with attempting to live a traditional life with her boyfriend while coping with the reality of her disease.

Midnight Sun falls into a sub-genre that I would like to call Coming-of-Age Romantic Comedies on a Deadline. This is a genre in which one of the individuals in the relationship has a life-threatening disease, thus the relationship is on a deadline. Some other films in this genre are The Fault in Our Stars, A Walk to Remember, Me Before You, Now Is Good, Here On Earth, and Irreplaceable You.

I thought that the quality of the writing in Midnight Sun was incredibly weak. Katie's quirkiness was attempted to be charming, but instead, she is awkward in a way that is not particularly funny. The cinematography is very well done. The way that Katie's life is shown through her daily routine of looking out her window captured that she was a part of something. However, no one else knew because she is simply an observer. The editing of the film is nothing special, but it was not done poorly. I feel the same way about the soundtrack that I do about the quality of the writing and of the acting. Bella Thorne's song 'Burn So Bright' is hopeful and cute, but there is very little depth to it. The other songs in the movie are well chosen and fitting.

The strength of the film comes from the premise rather than the acting. This film could have been made differently and would be much better if it was. As mentioned previous, Katie's character is awkward and is not especially likeable. It was easy to feel bad for her given her situation, but finding a true connection with her character is hard. I can definitely see the appeal of Charlie's character to teen girls. He is very attractive, yet he has very little depth. It's almost as if he always had the same blank stare or subtle smile the entire film. He is not convincing, and the attempt to develop his character was not particularly strong. Katie's best friend Morgan is a friendly and cute character who does not do a bad job acting. She is genuine and definitely the funniest of all the characters.

The best actor in this film is Jack, Katie's dad. What he says is believable. He is emotional and invested. Without the relationship between Katie and her father, Midnight Sun would not be a tearjerker the way that it is. This relationship adds the only bit of complexity that there is to the film. The father daughter relationship was meaningful and very well done in terms of the emotional response of the audience. The premise of the film is complicated, and I have no doubt that it is very hard to portray a relationship like Katie and Charlie's. I feel the same way about the other films that I put in this sub-genre. With such complex plots, there must be more that could be done differently.

This film shows that sick people who are dying do not always lose hope. Katie focused on the positive aspects of her life. She felt hopeful about falling in love. She was a good friend and a fun person to be around for Morgan. To her father, she was loving and focused on his happiness instead of solely her own.

I do not believe that the movie should be rated especially highly. Several aspects of the film are very weak. However, I strongly think that people should see it. I do not think the movie is worth paying to see in theaters, but it does have an interesting plot and focuses on several positive life messages. Katie was sick and trapped inside every day, but she was able to find happiness in the little things in life. She lived her short life to the absolute fullest, and I think that is an important lesson for all people.