'The Midnight Sky' film review: At least two solid sci-fi flicks crammed into one rushed space drama
George Clooney tries to save the last of humanity from returning to a poisoned and devastated Earth in the sci-fi drama 'The Midnight Sky' (streaming on Netflix starting Dec. 23)
In short: After humanity has all-but-certainly been wiped out, lonely Arctic scientist Augustine (Clooney) races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts aboard the space craft Æther from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. David Oyelowo, Caoilinn Springall, Kyle Chandler and Demián Bichir also star.
Aspects of 'Midnight' could have worked as standalone stories - but the totality is tonally inconsistent and never meshes well together. One one hand, there's Augustine's desperate attempt to warn the incoming crew of astronauts. Then there's the astronauts themselves, unaware of what has happened - only that they seems to be alone in space. Although Augustine initially believes he's the sole inhabitant of the Arctic base - he realizes that he's not alone: a young, mute child named Iris (Springall) keeps him company - as they may very well be the last two humans left on Earth. Any one of these plot threads would be a strong standalone film - but 'Midnight' is not served well by forcing them all into one singular film.
A side effect of this competition for screen time is uneven character development. 'Midnight' absolutely puts the audience in Augustine's shoes right from the start. His isolation is complete and unnerving. The global threat is total - and spreading ... and its ambiguous cause and exact nature makes it all the more menacing. Augustine's plot line benefits from the fact that it's just him and Iris - a mysterious girl who doesn't or can't speak. Meanwhile, the crew of the Æther has virtually no characterization. Five crew members - and little to nothing is revealed about their characters in the first hour. Sully (Jones) is pregnant and the rest of the crew has family back on Earth. It's not enough for any film just to rely on basic "we all have family" empathy to create a firm, intimate connection between the characters and the audience.
'Midnight' could be summarized as 'dying scientist braves the Arctic to prevent astronauts from returning to Earth' - but the plot itself has a disturbing amount of "and then" plot devices that turn this heady sci-fi drama into a part-time action-adventure flick. The post-apocalyptic premise itself can be excused for its ambiguous aspects - but pretty much the rest of 'Midnight' is just one "and then" plot turn after another "and then."
But the final element that tips 'Midnight' from good to flawed is its one-two punch of reveals. No spoilers - but neither is necessary. 'Midnight' would have worked just as well were it not for one completely unearned twist and another completely unnecessary reveal.
Final verdict: 'Midnight Sky' plays with intriguing notions of isolation and what it would mean to be the last of us - but clutters a film with too many parallel storylines, throws in some random action when the plot begins to stall, and ultimately decides some crazy plot twists would somehow fix everything. They didn't - they just leave bitter aftertaste.
Score: 2.5 out of 5
'The Midnight Sky' streams on Netflix starting Dec. 23. This biographical drama is rated PG-13 for some bloody images and brief strong language and has a running time of 122 minutes.
Directed by George Clooney / Screenplay by Mark L. Smith / Score by Alexandre Desplat / Cinematography by Martin Ruhe / Film Editing by Stephen Mirrione / Production Design by Jim Bissell / Starring George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone, Demián Bichir, Kyle Chandler and Caoilinn Springall
