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Midnight Special Review: A Heartfelt Road Adventure In The Starman Vein

Let's start this off by saying that no small part of the fun of viewing Midnight Special will come from going into the theater knowing as little as possible about it. Leave it to say that it's an entertaining road adventure with a young boy named Alton Meyer (played by Jaeden Liberher) who clearly has something special going on with him. The government is after him, and the adults who have come into Alton's orbit are doing their best to keep them one step ahead of the feds. It's built around solid performances from Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, and Adam Driver. There's tugs on heartstrings, and a serviceable series of events combining to a story arc that winds up being largely satisfying.

Now, while I'll avoid spoilers, I'm going to touch on some of the story beats and to that end, click away now if you want to go in knowing nothing more than what's in the trailer.

Ok, still with us, let's keep on going.

The film opens up in a quiet motel room. A flickering television broadcasts an Amber alert for the missing Alton. In an instant, between the news broadcast and the look on Ray's face, we're clear that things have already gotten under way. But also that things aren't quite as they seem, Alton has been taken, but Ray cares deeply about him – so it's not a vengeful kidnapping. It turns out Alton has grown up as part of a religious cult called The Ranch. Alton has the ability to perceive encrypted transmissions and has been relaying them to the the cult's members, including it's leader, Pastor Calvin Meyer (played by Sam Shepard). The FBI has caught wind of the fact that the Calvin has been including part of those secret transmissions as part of his sermons and want to find out how they know about them.

So the cult wants Alton back into the fold, the FBI wants him because, well, it's the government – and that's what they do in these movies. It's a combination of Starman, Powder, and Paul in various combinations. That's not to say it's contrived, but rather that it shares at it's heart the quest story of someone of innocence trying to reach some as-yet unknown destination (a reflection of the Arthurian Avalon), and aided by well meaning but largely in the dark "capable adults".

The ending isn't what is expected, and perhaps it almost becomes a bit too cheesy, however what starts as an uncomfortable feeling winds up as a conscious thought – that amongst most of the characters to drive them, is faith. For the cult, they believe Alton's messages as communications from God, for the parents, they believe in Alton as not being a thing of evil, and the government believes in him because he will have some kind of answers for them. Just as Starman's finale speaks to the human aspect of compassion, Midnight Special is one of hope.

It's the sort of film that will creep up on you and really take hold. It might not be what you went into expecting, but when the lights come up again, you may well find yourself feeling a bit better about what might lay ahead.

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