It’s becoming a common occurrence to see low-budget
festival-targeted science fiction make its way into theaters this time of year,
and much like last year’s Ex Machina,
I think Midnight Special is going to
be remembered as something… well, pretty special. Writer-director Jeff Nichols (Mud and Take Shelter) has always been a proponent of story-showing rather
than story-telling, and his stab at science fiction is a grand demonstration of
just how damn good he is at it.
Seriously, what we have here is a modern classic that I already want to
see again, just to try and catch any details I may have (and probably did) miss
the first time around.
The film opens on Roy (Michael Shannon) and Lucas (Joel Edgerton)
taking Roy’s son Alton out into the night as an Amber alert plays on the
television, telling us that Alton has been abducted from his home on a place
ominously known as The Ranch. Alton
wears protective goggles over his eyes which sometimes emit a strange glow, and
he has a strange relationship with electronic devices. The federal government is interested in Alton
for reasons relating to his powers, as is the cultish Ranch at which Alton was
raised, so they both send agents in search of Roy and Alton, hoping to find
them first as the fugitives pursue an unknown goal.
If that synopsis seems vague, that was my intention, as it is just about as vague as the film's first act. This is a film that relies heavily on its
ability to tease information that you think you need to know, yet only giving
it to you when you truly need to know it.
In no way does this prevent the film from being compelling, as the
central relationship between father and son that propels the narrative is
immediately relatable, and their struggle is all the more harrowing for our not
having all the facts yet. The
backgrounds and narrative significance of plot points and side characters such
as Lucas or an FBI investigator (Adam Driver) are kept vague until necessary to
provide a sense of tension, which always pays off in the form of a reveal that
is rarely directly expository.
This all comes together through some fantastic
performances. Michael Shannon is one of
the best character actors working today, and his persistently grim
determination is detailed with subtle nuances that make him incredibly engaging
to watch. Edgerton and Driver both also
acquit themselves well, surprisingly adding some comic beats that would feel
out of place if they weren’t so well executed in relieving the persistent tension
the film provides. Even Kirsten Dunst, a
relatively lackluster actress who plays Alton’s estranged mother, manages to
carry the climactic scene of the film entirely on her facial expressions, so
bravo for that. The only potentially
weak performance is that of Jaeden Leiberher, the child who plays Alton. I wouldn’t call him bad, and the wooden
performance is actually suitable for the character, so the lack of range he may
or may not exhibit isn’t ultimately that important.
I hesitate to say more, because I’m still enthralled by how
effective Midnight Special was at
telling an engaging tale through twists and turns conveyed through the uniquely
visual nature of cinema, and I don’t want to taint anyone’s first viewing. I was actually worried for much of the
runtime that one of the film’s central mysteries would remain unresolved, and yet,
wordlessly, the final shot of the film not only answered my questions, but it
recontextualized the entire experience to make it feel complete in a way I
would never have expected. This is how
you show a story to your audience. This
is how you make a memorable cinematic experience. This is how you make a great film.
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