Directed by George Clooney | Released Dec 2020 | Runtime 2h 2m
Based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed 2016 post-apocalyptic novel (Good Morning, Midnight), The Midnight Sky takes us on a journey into the future – our own perhaps. A reclusive scientist attempts to reach a returning spacecraft to warn them that planet earth is a lost cause. Brought to us by the same people that created Academy Award Winning film Argo (2012), the film boasts a highly skilled and experienced filmmaking team.
It is clear to see that this is a passion project for director George Clooney. As well as his abilities behind the camera, he also plays the lead character with such intensity. As well as battling a terminal illness and attempting to contact the astronauts, our leading man is conflicted between his inner emotions of not being the father he should have, and trying to make up for this by saving the last humans on the planet. The movie doesn’t give too much away about what happened to the earth and how it became inhabitable. All we know for sure is that people were being evacuated, and from a birds-eye view see the planet covered in what looks like chalky desert dust.
The obscurity of Clooney’s direction is what makes this film both interesting and intense at times. However, viewers may be left with their curiosity unsatisfied due to its predictable, nonchalant ending. It is more of an emotional endurance rather than a climatic plot-based film, so bare that in mind before you watch.
The acting, visual effects, sound and score, are what truly make this sci-fi flick worthy of award mention. Clooney manages to lure out astonishing performances from his small cast. The story was not all that compelling and you might find yourself distracted by anything else in your surrounding area during the movie.
If there is any message embedded within this feature, it is that Clooney is asking the audience to take a look around, love the planet, and be aware and passionate about the current issues we face in our own reality – “I’m afraid we didn’t do a very good job of looking after the place whilst you were away” (The Midnight Sky, 2020).
The pacing is similar to that of Gravity (2013), it is a definite slow burn but worth the watch if you want to see Clooney at his acting best, and marvel at the tremendous sight and sound cataclysmically projected through your TV screen.
