Review of The Midnight Sky (2020) by Geekusmaximus — 29 Aug 2021

I have a rule about sci-fi shows and movies: if the work is really about the character interactions, they can do whatever they want with the science as long as it's self-consistent or they don't try to explain it. This is why I enjoy Star Trek. On the other hand, if it's intended to be realistic or is focused on the science, they'd better get everything right.

This movie fails regardless of how you look at it. The story is boring and monotonous. You can see the plot twists coming, you don't really care about the characters, and you barely remember anything you watched within a few hours of finishing the movie. It's just one dumb obstacle after another until a mediocre end. So, it can't be about the drama. Similarly, the science is awful. Not even getting into the premise of the plot, the aforementioned dumb obstacles are not even remotely scientific. The asteroid belt is not dense. You are unlikely to run into even one asteroid, let alone an entire cluster of them. This happens twice in the movie. Similarly, George Clooney getting dumped into freezing Arctic waters and still having the faculties to get himself out and not die of hypothermia in the following hour is simply impossible.

The kindest thing I can say about this movie is that I probably wouldn't have been productive doing anything else during those two hours, anyway.