Film of the Week – Midnight Special

Even though this film is backed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it still has a strong independent vibe about it, which amplifies the originality and freshness that has been much needed to push us along into the second half of the year, when the comic book films can begin again. Midnight Special is a science fiction, drama, and a supernatural film that follows Roy Tomlin (Michal Shannon), who has fled from a religious cult who worships an 8-year old boy, Alton (Jaeden Liberher).

Alton is no ordinary boy. He possesses extraordinary and powerful abilities. He doesn’t quite know who he is yet, but as he takes the journey across America, he soon learns that he is from another world, populated with beings much like him, and who are just as powerful. Along the way, the Police force, and soon the FBI has been notified of the kidnapping, and soon they are right on Roy and Alton’s tail. Roy can’t do this alone, and so he seeks the help of his good friend, Lucas (Joel Edgerton) who, although will do anything to help his friends, remain in a state of confusion. Alton’s mother, Sara Tomlin, joins the three and head off to the final destination.

Midnight Special is a beautifully made film. The bond between father and son, and mother and son is terrifically acted. Even though Roy has no idea who his son actually is, there’s still that powerful connection of trust, believing one another, and that sense of understanding even when the mystery is thick and the answers are running thin.

Written and directed by Jeff Nicolas, this is his fourth feature film. It is significantly different from his previous films, but Jeff has perfectly captured the simplicity of what a science fiction is, allowing us, the audience to never lose track of the story, who the characters are, and the climax at the end, as well as adding that strong drama element in between, which helps flesh out each character well – who they are, what they do, and the importance they have on the plot itself.

With a budget of $18 million, a strong story has been told. A lot happened within the two hours, without missing a single beat. When the goings got tough, I felt as if they were actually struggling to get through it, and when they did, either through luck or of their own making, there was a sense of relief.

This does bring up an interesting issue that I would like to bring up. Midnight Special had a considerably less money to spend than two of the biggest films of this year: Captain America – Civil War, and Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Both films had a huge budget of $250 million. Captain America stormed the box office, with their incredible attention to detail, including every character and developing them enough to move the story forwards and not over complicate things. Batman Vs Superman also stormed the box office, but didn’t get the same praise as its rival. The story felt rushed, the characters weren’t as developed as they should have been. Does this prove that it’s not how much money you have, it’s what you do wit it? Well, yes and no.

Yes, because you can go big, epic, and do things that other films would only ever dream of doing. If it’s a massively anticipated film, then the studios may give the producers and the writers more freedom to move about compared to that of a smaller, less anticipated film.

No, because with a bigger budget, they can move about more, and the end product can be something of a sensational piece that blows everyone away. If it’s something the audience really wants, then the studio needs to deliver, and so a bigger budget is needed. That makes sense in the grand scheme of things, but you have to consider the possibility that the hype of a big film can ruin said film before it has even begun.

There are many more elements that needs to be considered to determine what makes a film good or bad, but if the studio is allowing the people with more money, they can get a little addicted to spending it, which can lead onto the other elements.

So what’s my point. Well, as I said at the very beginning of this article, Midnight Special has a strong independent vibe throughout, even though it has been backed by a large studio. Am I saying that because it has a small budget, they utilised every penny to make the best film they possibly could from what they had to work with? It’s a possibility. Midnight Special did what so many films could have done with a big budget, but just didn’t – incorporated the story, the characters, and that’s it, with all the other elements being added as and when necessary. It’s a refreshing experience to watch unfold.

Of course, you can have a small budgeted film and the final product not be as good as expected. It seems that Midnight Special new exactly what it wanted to be. Jeff Nicolas knew exactly what he wanted to make, and made it to the best of his ability with the resources he had at hand. We do need more independent films like Midnight Special, because then they can show the big films that the smaller ones can indeed stand up and be included with everything else.

Just because you have a lot of money to spend, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want, but contradicting that matter, if you have a smaller amount to spend, you can do whatever you want, because you know your limits, and therefore can expand outwards until each and every one has been met, and that’s exactly how I feel with Midnight Special. It’s a fabulous film and shouldn’t be pushed to the back row just because it’s not as big as some of the comic book films out there.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)