I could take some heat for this but I liked "Midnight Special" better than Jeff Nichols's other Michael Shannon fronted film, "Take Shelter". Shannon plays quietly tense better than anyone right now and the few moments he shows his love for his son are worth the price of a theater ticket.
This is understated Science Fiction. It's also a chase movie with an otherworldly mystery driving it, but for a movie about a special child being pursued by both a cult and the government, it's surprisingly slow-moving. I'd bet a good number of people that have seen this have been frustrated by its pace. It's also likely that it's ambiguous conclusion will leave some viewers angry. Me...I like filling in the blanks so no issues here.
The film slowly reveals the mystery behind the boy's powers and for me it was very satisfying. I loved what the little boy was all about and the fact that many people witnessed the amazing event. I was also very impressed with the gas station scene. The dialog was also enjoyable whenever Adam Driver was on-screen. His character provided some lighter moments in an otherwise very serious film.
I enjoyed this film, it had a feel of old classics like ET etc
The potential is sky high for Midnight Special and the cast is great. I really enjoyed the movie but there is a very painful lack of depth. I feel like this could've been the movie of the year and it just didn't quite get there.
The whole time was expecting something to happen, then we get to the end of this snoozefest and the ending is just SO DUMB. This whole movie is stupid beyond words. Nothing is explained. How this kid ended up on this world born to normal parents? Who are the aliens? If the cult could find them in a random motel, how come the FBI couldnt?
Dull , slow and boring. Nothing interesting was happening and the whole structure fails upon the mystery.
This movie starts in media res and has a slow build up. The acting is great, the cinematography is great and the story makes you think. Sure the pacing is slow but if you like old sci-fi movies you won't be disappointed.
The problem with the movie is not that it leaves you with unanswered questions and many things unexplained, it's that you never care to find out. The movie is over and I honestly couldn't care less about anything.
This was an unexpectedly good movie. From the beginning, there was a mystery which got explained along the way. It grabbed me right from the get-go. Of course, the mystery is not completely explained but in this case, I didn't mind. It's definitely worth a look.
Uh, even after sitting for nearly two hours watching this, I'm not even sure if I saw the whole movie. It felt like we jumped in after everything already occurred. They introduced characters that ultimately didn't matter. They never explained the boy's powers, or why they were sporadically erupting from him. I mean did he cause the meteor shower? What does the light from his eyes emit, that makes others want to gaze into it? What was this movie's point???
A very weird movie. It makes no sense that those "other humans" forced the family on a travel, that would risk the family's lives and result in the exposure of those other beings.
And besides that making no sense, the movie offered quite a boring plot about this unnecessary travel.
Cracking spielbergian sci-fi that gripped from start to end. Captivating series of chase scenes, peppered with engaging studies of parenthood and religion. What would you give up for someone who could change the world?
Now that´s what I call great Science Fiction. Yes, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered but that´s the movie's greatest strength because it calls on something we have lost in the movies today. Imagination.
Yeah it's well done, well paced and never boring with great visual effects but left with many open questions and mysteiers. #worthwatching
I found this movie extremely interesting and surprisingly calming. 10/10 love this movie.
What is going on with the ratings on here? 25%? Did a hatemob rate this film? It's an effective homage to 80s sci-fi flicks. Nothing more. Nothing less. But certainly not 25% "worst movie ever" material. 7.2 on imdb, 78 on metacritic. Let's just say professional critics are usually a bit more trustworthy than trakt users...
Story: superb. Acting: superb. Movie overal: average.
Reason for the overal rating is that so many is left untold. The Ranch is just randomly depicted, the whole sect stuff is completely undescribed and has no meaning for the story. Why was the kid taken there and adopted? Obviously mom and dad didnt want to loose him, so why take him there then?
And as for questions.... where is the start of the movie? Where is the end of this movie? Why did the story about mom end differently than about dad and Lucas?
I really enjoyed the middle part of the movie, but this story clearly misses a huge part at the start of the movie, where the characters should have gotten some form and some kind of motivation about why they do what they do.
Clearly the story is very interesting indeed and it's a great basis for a good story. But the movie failed in many ways. Really too bad...
Quite enjoyed this. Slow-ish pace, but enough to keep you intrigued throughout the film. I can understand why people would be quite affected by the film and the characters journey, as I found it quite involved and tight.
I had to watch this in 30 minute chunks over three days to get through this; the worst movie I have watched in some time.
Good visual effects but I found the story boring. Don't recommend
The movie is beautifully presented and the acting is excellent. Despite there being several action scenes, it has a pretty slow pace overall. The focus of the story is mostly about the family and interpersonal dynamics as they come to terms with what makes the boy special.
I was disappointed in the sci-fi side of the story, because there's just not a lot of depth to it. Very little is explained and it might as well be magic instead of science. The only part I really appreciated in terms of sci-fi was the visuals at the climax of the story.
I loved everything about this movie until the end.
An emotionally flat film that meanders across highways and byways on a road to nowhere. I do enjoy films of this type and did enjoy Jeff Nichols' previous effort " Take Shelter" but for some reason this movie
failed to connect. Midnight Special has all the elements to be a terrific film, unfortunately the final result is much weaker than the sum of its parts.
this is an excellent film with an excellent cast
The soundtrack on this movie is epic. I've been listening to it long before watching the movie, which likely helped me like the movie more than others might have.
A good sci-fi film, artier than most due to Jeff Nichols' sensitive direction. There seemed to be holes in the story suggesting the film deserves a longer cut some time. Whatever the case, its a film worth watching even if you have more questions than answers toward the end.
really enjoyed it. true, not much happens, but that's the director's style.
Good movie too bad i didnt really understand it
For those who are familiar, it's a very similar concept to Powder (1995), with only a slightly different story. Even some of the visuals seem similar. Good movie, but I think Powder was better.
Shout by Sam NicholsonBlockedParent2016-04-17T05:04:07Z
There are certain movies that I love and completely understand why others wouldn't like them. Then there are movies where I simply can't understand how someone could sit through it and not be affected by it in any way. This is one of those movies