atmospheric
film
film review
midnigth special
sci-fi
SHINY EYES AND MUTED MUSTARD
3:07 AM
“Midnight Special" D: Jeff Nichols S: Jeff Nichols C: Adam Stone C: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Jaeden Lieberher, Adam Driver, etc.
The fanfares around the arrival of “Midnight Special” construed it as the alternative sci-fi of the year. Though enjoyably atmospheric and with a consistent pace, the story fails to deliver a thrill to write home about.
The fanfares around the arrival of “Midnight Special” construed it as the alternative sci-fi of the year. Though enjoyably atmospheric and with a consistent pace, the story fails to deliver a thrill to write home about.
As the
curtains unfold, the viewers find themselves in the middle of a chase scene.
Plunged right into the plot, snippets of the backstory are cautiously fed to the audience throughout the film in a way which may seem as overly structured. Two guys
and an extraordinarily talented child are trying to outrun a myriad of enemies
ranging from the FBI to members of a religious cult. The initial yearning to
understand and catch every smallest bit of dialogue soon fades as the
realisation dawns that the caginess is just a formal device to shroud the empty
shell of a plot behind the convenient confines of mystery. The viewers are left
to rummage around the darkness most of the time, creating a feeling reminiscent
to the creeping uncertainty exuding from Denis Villeneuve’s “The Enemy”. This
does not necessarily signal failure as these sentiments (even if they are
overlong) can lead to a skilfully creative and necessarily vague ending as in
the case of the film mentioned before. The architectural marvel in the end of
“Midnight Special”, however, did not pack the necessary punch to stun, explain or make up
for the hard detective work which was required from the audience during the
preceding two hours. Simplistic bleary-eyed awe for the visual fails to quench
the thirst for some sort of an explanation which the film had been building up
to. There is potential meat on the bones of this story but for reasons unknown,
the more interesting facets like the cult storyline or explaining the complex emotional landscapes of the characters beyond just being moody for the sake of atmosphere remain mere sideshows.
Despite
all that, the film excels in creating an atmosphere fitting to the chilling
uncertainty of a sci-fi. The yellow-tinged dark colour scheme fits well
with the grimy hotel rooms and the gloomy situation. The consistently good
soundtrack enforces the supernatural tinge of the story without ever
overtaking. And the nostalgic glimmer of the “cinema of wonder” which is used
in abundance adds a certain je ne sais
quoi by paying homage to the history of the genre. The atmosphere keeps the
pace and holds your attention throughout the road trip into the unknown, it is
just a shame that the destination fails to enthral.
“Midnight
Special” portrays a vaguely explained mysterious escape involving some
undefined paranormal powers. Backstories, intentions and explanations are put
on the backburner to emphasise the eerie atmoshpere of the pursuit of the
unknown. The crumbs which are fed to the audience do not nourish enough to keep
the appetite, thus, as the mic drops, the climax feels stale and underwhelming.
Low-key sci-fi has to stand out with its inventiveness to overwhelm an audience
accustomed to high-end CGI. A moody plot resembling Mulder and Scully’s trip to
Malick-land decorated by glorified lense blur falls short of the claim in the title – it might be as dark and gloomy as midnight but "special" can be contested.
Images:
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/chT-mSE-A-i-dgsQe0IvOYL28Pw=/0x0:2042x1361/1280x854/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49028207/midnight_special_wb_1.0.0.jpg
https://67.media.tumblr.com/8ebe411a47b34365e52122bd284c1bcc/tumblr_mldkkrxiVA1qiz3j8o1_500.gif
http://tres.visual404.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/tumblr_o63chfa6Et1s7xfipo1_400.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/RCYkw2Uhb6mhG/giphy.gif
http://static.neatorama.com/stacy/deeproy.jpg
Images:
https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/chT-mSE-A-i-dgsQe0IvOYL28Pw=/0x0:2042x1361/1280x854/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49028207/midnight_special_wb_1.0.0.jpg
https://67.media.tumblr.com/8ebe411a47b34365e52122bd284c1bcc/tumblr_mldkkrxiVA1qiz3j8o1_500.gif
http://tres.visual404.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/05/tumblr_o63chfa6Et1s7xfipo1_400.gif
https://media.giphy.com/media/RCYkw2Uhb6mhG/giphy.gif
http://static.neatorama.com/stacy/deeproy.jpg
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