Midnight Special

A Jeff Nichols Film (Mud) Premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival February 12, 2016 Blaine: “Midnight Special” had a limited release and luckily it was showing at AMC Highlands Ranch so I could see it.

Plot (Spoiler Alert)

Roy is on the run from the Government, trying to protect his son, Alton, and they have help from Roy's long time friend, Lucas. Alton has these powers and says he is from another planet and that’s why the Government is after him. To hide his powers Alton has to wear goggles and stay in dark rooms. When they stop at a gas station Alton accidentally causes meteors to crash into the gas station and Roy, Lucas and Alton flee.

They head to Sarah’s place. Sarah is Roy’s husband and Alton’s mom and she is overwhelmed with joy to once again see her son. Sarah joins them on their road trip. Alton is getting sick and looks like he is getting worse. Alton starts to get a little out of control. Lucas pulls the car over. Alton gets out and is sucking the life out of the ground. Alton knows the FBI is near. Alton takes Roy into the woods to hide while Lucas and Sarah drive off. As morning draws near Alton tells his father that it is safe for him to stay out as the sunset hits them. Alton’s eyes spark up and they are surrounded in a dome of light. Alton is cured and now knows the true identity.

Roy and Alton meet up with Sarah and Lucas at a hotel. Alton explains his power to them and that there is a world above theirs and he belongs to it. As they leave the hotel, they are ambushed by men who have been tracking them down. They tie Roy, Lucas and Sarah down and take Alton away. Sarah frees herself and unties Roy and Lucas. They rush to the car and go after them. But it is too late, Alton has been put into a helicopter and sent to the government facility where he is being interviewed. Alton convinces the Lead Operations Analyst, Paul Sevier, to help him escape. Alton uses his powers to show Paul everything there is to know. Roy hears pay phones ringing and answers one of them. Paul informs Roy that he is to bring Alton to him and tells him where to meet. They meet at a 5-mile perimeter. Alton is back with his family. Paul asks if he can come with them, but Roy says no. Paul handcuffs himself and has Lucas punch him to make it look like he was being held prisoner.

Alton senses the FBI is close. Alton guides Roy, Sarah and Lucas where to go. The army is blocking the road so Roy pummels the car through. They drive until Alton tells Roy to stop the car for they are very close. Roy and Lucas keep going and create a distraction while Alton and Sarah run to the spot in the woods. There Alton unleashes his powers causing a giant dome to go through and surround the Florida panhandle. Everywhere there is a futuristic building people have never seen before. Roy and Lucas create a wild goose chase, but the tires break causing the car to crash.

Beings with glowing chests and eyes show up and take Alton with them. Sarah gets one last look at Alton before he leaves. The dome then disappears. Alton is now safe from the government. After that Roy and Lucas are arrested. Lucas is interviewed by the FBI and he keeps telling them the same answers. Paul Sevier and Lucas looks like he is happy to see him. Meanwhile Sarah changes her identity now that she’s a fugitive. Roy has to wear an electroencephalography device on his head. He watches the sunset from the prison he is in and his eyes glow faintly while he watches.

Blaine: I had a hard time understanding where Alton came from. He said he belongs on another planet and yet he was born on Earth. The question is if he was born on Earth, how can he also be from another planet? I thought maybe Alton was found by Roy and Sarah and they adopted him. It wasn’t till the third time I watched it that I thought it was possible that Roy could be an alien too because there’s a spark in his eye at the end. Roy could have come from another planet and have fallen in love with a human and he got her pregnant with his child. I don’t know, but that’s my guess.

Jeff Nichols said he imagined Roy as a true believer in this ranch when the idea came to him. And his parents (who I believe could be foster parents) moved him out there in high school and it was a nice place for him. Everybody had a job there, he trained to be an electrician. He met this beautiful women there and they had a child. Jeff likes to believe Roy was having a good life. But then Sam Shepard’s character comes in and wants to take control of the Alton. He raises him for two years and Roy didn’t like it, so he takes Alton and gets him out and that’s what you see in the beginning of the film. Jeff also came up this idea of a close friend Roy hasn’t seen in a decade, Lucas. They knew each other before Roy moved to the farm and before that they were really close.

The idea sounds like something out of Superman. Roy could be someone who is found by earthlings and is raised in ranch, but his planet was never destroyed. And the son has thesis different powers. In order for Alton to control his power he has to let it all out because there is too much inside of him like balloon is about to pop. Alton works like a satellite or a computer at times because of the way he knows how far the FBI are.

Sarah’s background Jeff Nichols and Kristen Dunst described as someone who might not have been close to her family and did drugs, but then she meets this religious guy, Roy, who is older than her. And he introduced her to religion and showed her that she can redeem herself. And then she was excommunicated from the Ranch after she wouldn’t let Calvin Meyer, Sam Shepard, take Alton away from her and Roy.

Sevier, played by Adam Driver, is someone who is understanding and wants to explore new things. He’s not interested in capturing Alton, instead wants to help him that’s what I like about him. I wished that Roy could have let Sevier join them, but I guess it’s good he didn’t join the party because he would have been in jail like Roy and Lucas. Sevier helping Alton made it easier not to question how Alton would get back to his parents.

This is Michael Shannon and Jeff Nichols fourth movie together after staring in Jeff’s “Shotgun Stories” and “Take Shelter” and having a small role in “Mud". Jeff said that Michael is unlike any actor he has ever worked with because he understands what Jeff writes and he understands the character.

Roy gets to spend the rest of his life in jail, but that’s ok for him because he cares more about Alton than anything else and knowing Alton is safe makes Roy happy. My rating on “Midnight Special” is five out of five stars.