****
On the run from the authorities and the pseudo-cultish community they used to call home, father Roy Tomlin and his sickening son, Alton, are in a race against time to reach a mysterious location in the heartland of the United States. For Alton is no ordinary boy; gifted with unexplainable capabilities that have made him a target.
How refreshing it is to see a sci-fi film that doesn't have a single superhero or alien in it. How refreshing it is to have a film that doesn't conclude with a city being decimated as comic book characters punch seven bells out of one another whilst civilians run screaming from the carnage. The antidote to all these tropes is Jeff Nichols' latest, Midnight Special, a film that is less about the powers that the child possesses, but more about the close relationship between the father and son.
The film opens with Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon) and Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) already on the run from The Ranch, a cult-like community who have taken Alton's powers as a sign from God. Accompanying them is stoic Lucas (Joel Edgerton), whose presence is only revealed later, similar to the nature of Alton's powers. And this is one of the joys of the script: there is no forced exposition as people explain the plot to one another - we, the audience, are slowly drip-fed information as the road trip continues. It is the epitome of a slow-burner, a suspense-filled and intoxicatingly mysterious opening that immediately drags you in to the tense situation, and refuses to let you go. At the centre of it all is Michael Shannon's gripping performance as Alton's father, a man desperate to provide his son with help, whilst also living in fear of what the outcome of the situation might be. Famed for his intense performances and hard gaze, Shannon here demonstrates his tender side, willing to protect Alton at all costs. It is this very human central relationship that grounds the film and tugs at the heart strings.
The final act falls down somewhat in the moment of the 'big reveal', which I shall tiptoe around very lightly as I don't want to give anything away. The beginning and middle sections of the film are suspenseful, tense but by the time the conclusion comes around, you can't help feel a little deflated - there had been such a big build up of mystery that it seemed almost a disappointment to have Alton's capabilities explained. Some elements do remain ambiguous, and this is for the better, but I couldn't help but feel that the film would have been more haunting, more absorbing, if it had retained the unease and speculation of the set up. Had the ending been more ambiguous, I feel that this would have been an instant classic.
That's not to say, however, that this isn't a good film, because it really is. It's immersive and wholly intense, a slow-burner that pulls you in from the very start and doesn't let you go. The performances are ubiquitously excellent, and the story a breath of fresh air in amongst all the other sci-fi stories flooding the cinema. Largely without spectacle, and yet visually arresting nonetheless, it's a beautifully human story with a little bit of the supernatural thrown in.
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