Indie Gems: Midnight Special

-
He's more important

Roy (Michael Shannon) has left a cult with his son, Alden (Jaeden Lieberher) who they worshiped. Alden has special powers, ones that tell him that he needs to be at a certain place on a certain date for an unknown reason. He's aided by his childhood friend Lucas (Joel Egerton) and his assumed ex wife, Sarah. (Kirsten Dunst) But he has not only the FBI hot on their trail, but an NSA agent, Sevier (Adam Driver) who wants to know why Alden is able to figure out top secret government codes.

My road to this film has been long. It premiered at Sundance two years ago to rave reviews, I book marked it, waited for it's release date that year...then it got pushed back....then it was pushed back again. Finally, it got a limited theatrical release. My own art house theatre got it...for 6 days only. It felt like everything was preventing me to see this movie. But when I watched it, it immediately made all of that waiting work it.

Midnight Special is another spectacular work from director Jeff Nichols. It may even be my favorite of his. This is his first studio film (Warner Brothers Independent) so they gave him a bit of a budget to work with. The less you know about this film, the better it works. My husband hadn't even seen a preview of it prior, I just sold him on "Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon" and he was pleasantly surprised throughout. 

The acting in the film is wonderful, people like Shannon, Dunst, Edgerton and Driver always turn out fine performances. Though I wish Driver had been in it a bit more. Lieberher was also very good and I hope he gets more roles from this.

Midnight Special did leave me with a few questions, but they're the intriguing kind. The kind that feel okay when you wonder about a film after you've watched it. 

Grade: A

Watched on: Netflix DVD

Memorable Quote: "I believe you." - Lucas (Joel Egerton)

Comments

  1. MyerlaAugust 12, 2016 at 6:54 AM

    I wanted to check this out again as I found it quite slow in a fidgety sense, I found myself getting inpatient with it.

    Still, I appreciate the film and the final act is mesmerizing...I'm planning to give it another go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 12, 2016 at 10:33 AM

      Have you seen any of the other films by Jeff Nichols? They all had similiar builds to me. I love them.

      Delete
    2. MyerlaAugust 12, 2016 at 1:28 PM

      I've seen Mud and Take Shelter, both of which I really liked.

      Delete
  2. Matthew St.ClairAugust 12, 2016 at 7:55 AM

    I loved this movie. It really brought me back to the glory days of science fiction with films like E.T.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 12, 2016 at 10:32 AM

      Yes! It was a great balance. It reminded me of that as well.

      Delete
  3. UnknownAugust 12, 2016 at 8:53 AM

    I wanted more Driver, too! But really glad you loved this, I can't wait to see it again now it's finally out on DVD here :)
    - Allie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 12, 2016 at 10:32 AM

      I wish I could've seen it in theaters, I would've gladly thrown my money at this film. lol

      Delete
  4. Candice FrederickAugust 12, 2016 at 11:24 AM

    i NEED to see this. so glad you loved it

    ReplyDelete
  5. m.brownAugust 12, 2016 at 4:42 PM

    Well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to rent this tonight.

    Or now. (f--king Olympics are killing my movie watching!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 13, 2016 at 7:19 AM

      Mine too! I've had Elvis & Nixon and The Driftless Area at my house for over a week, but the Olympics keep distracting me. lol

      Delete
  6. KhalidAugust 12, 2016 at 5:54 PM

    Nice review! Wish I liked this as much as you, the slow-pacing and Sci-fi elements of the film did not sit very well with me, athough I did admire the performances.
    But I think it pales in comparison to Nichols recent work like Mud and Take Shelter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 13, 2016 at 7:19 AM

      Aww, I'm sorry you didn't like it more. I'm glad the acting worked for you at least.

      Delete
  7. thevoid99August 12, 2016 at 6:59 PM

    I have to say that Nichols is at this point is batting 1000 right now. It's currently my 2nd favorite film of the year with Love & Friendship in first.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 13, 2016 at 7:18 AM

      I can't wait to see what he does with Loving later this year.

      Delete
  8. Kevin PowersAugust 13, 2016 at 8:43 AM

    Great review! I agree on all points. Jeff Nichols is such an impressive talent. I can't wait for Loving.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 16, 2016 at 8:32 AM

      Thank you! Neither can I. That looks amazing as well.

      Delete
  9. KatyAugust 13, 2016 at 3:56 PM

    Nice review! A lot of great reviews have surrounded this one. Nichols rarely seems to disappoint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 16, 2016 at 8:31 AM

      I'm not sure if he can disappoint? I haven't see it yet. lol

      Delete
  10. PrudenceAugust 14, 2016 at 3:59 AM

    I haven't meet a Jeff Nichols movie that I didn't like! Midnight Special is a solid sci-fi film! But Take Shelter still remains as my favorite from Mr. Nichols.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 16, 2016 at 8:31 AM

      Take Shelter is my favorite as well, but this one is close behind. I can't wait to see Loving this year.

      Delete
  11. CourtneyAugust 15, 2016 at 10:54 AM

    I'm totally glad to see Kiki in more roles lately, and she was brief, but great in this! Definitely one of the better, less talked about, movies of this year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 16, 2016 at 8:31 AM

      I've loved her since I was a tween, I'm always happy to see her in films. Agreed that she was great in her small part.

      Delete
  12. keith71_98August 15, 2016 at 11:28 AM

    An A? Woo Hoo! STILL my favorite film of the year so far. Held up stunningly well a second time. Such a big fan of the story, the characters, and Nichols' near perfect execution. Glad to hear you liked it too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 16, 2016 at 8:30 AM

      So am I! I'd love to see this again, I'll probably buy it.

      Delete
  13. AnonymousAugust 16, 2016 at 10:52 AM

    I was thrown off by a few red herrings in the plot but kind of thought they added to the fun of discovery. Really enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. BirgitAugust 17, 2016 at 1:58 PM

    I have not heard of this film but sounds intriguing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamAugust 17, 2016 at 2:48 PM

      It's wonderful, like all of Jeff Nichols' other films.

      Delete
  15. Tanner JonesAugust 26, 2016 at 10:57 AM

    I really thought this one would impress me more, but I never felt invested, at all. But, silver linings--Edgerton actually impressed me (which is rare), Lieberher is wonderful (St. Vincent was extremely under appreciated), and Michael Shannon keeps impressing me more and more.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more