Midnight Special Reviews

I already saw this movie but, the first time I watched it, the circumstances were not ideal, so I thought I might as well check it out again. Indeed, the first time around, I saw this movie without subtitles and I have to admit that I did struggle to follow exactly what the characters were saying. On top of that, I think it is a rather frustrating movie but, while rewatching it, I have to admit that I was more able to appreciate its mood and its flow. Anyway, even if it turned out to be another decent directorial effort from Jeff Nichols, I think it was a slight step-back from his previous work though. Indeed, even if it was done on purpose, it didn’t help that Nichols chose to keep some big chunks of the story and of the characters involved in the dark through the whole thing. For example, while the cult thing was quite interesting, it turned out to be actually rather misleading and it had a rather minor impact after all. On the other hand, I don’t think that the plot or the dialogues were so important. Indeed, while a 3rd rate director would have probably delivered here a generic SF thriller, Nichols managed once again to create a really nice mood which made the whole thing quite spellbinding to behold, even if the concept was nothing really original after all. Furthermore, it is really neat that he keeps working with Michael Shannon who is such a fine actor and miles more interesting than many pretty faces working in Hollywood. Concerning the rest of the cast, Joel Edgerton and Adam Driver were fine as well, on the other hand, Kirsten Dunst was not bad but her character could have been more developed (in fact, all the characters could have been more developed). Anyway, to conclude, even if it was probably Nichols’s least interesting movie so far, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this director.