Midnight Special (2016)

Elevator Pitch

Roy is the father of Alton a boy who appears to have special powers, and he and a friend, Lucas, have spirited him away from an American cult where the boy had been abandoned by his mother. Their action is broadcast as an abduction, requiring them to keep out of sight as they make their way to a location indicated to them by the boy as being essential for his future. With cult members and the National Security Agency on their trail, can they get to the location, particularly since the authorities also appear to know its map reference.

Content

The pair and the boy mostly drive about in the dark in a 1972 Chevy stopping at motels and once at the house of a friend who proves to be less than trustworthy. The boy uses his spooky powers at times, including the destruction of a satellite the debris from which destroys a gas station. They pick up his mother, a former cult member, who is pleased to see him. There are a couple of gunfights when the cult members catch up, and at times the boy is captured and interrogated by the NSA.

A View

The chase through the American south is well done and full of tension, but for me there is a gradual dawning that the boy’s destiny and his special powers have little relationship. This view is also taken by a number of critics but nevertheless it gained an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although not quite as well liked by the general public. What can we say? Its first and second acts make it well worth watching, although you may be disappointed by its conclusion.