Midnight Special

Euphoric opening scene (the best road tension since Drive), very good first hour, and a few solid scenes after it. Unfortunately, the rest is one of the worst things Nichols has ever written/filmed. The conclusion is purely full retard... i.e., full late Shyamalan. A terrible pity... as a tribute to seventies sci-fi ok, but as a dramatic whole with a rather subtle psychological line its very scattered. [Berlinale 2016] (2016-02-25)

The movie strives hard to be a more sophisticated Carpentner´s Starman. At first it works pretty well, but the closer the conclusion is, the less this true this statement is. Nichols is scoring an own goal by a silly script. Fortunately, he does he best to dealt with it as a director and the cast also did not leave him in the lurch. With the honorable exception of Lieberher, who, however, is to some extent excused by the cruelly ungrateful role of a wise child. But despite all the stupid naivety, it keeps a captivating atmosphere all the time, and thanks to Stone behind the camera, it's exceptionally well-put in terms of visuals. As a result, it is more interesting than really good, but it´s interesting because... Well, in an interesting / nice way. (2018-08-27)

I wouldn’t be that critical of this film. Sure, the premise is really crazy, but the filmmaking craft is more than solid for a realistic sci-fi. The same goes for actors who have gathered in a more than decent cast. Kirsten Dunst, Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Adam Drivers are among those today’s actors that are nice to watch and usually do not disappoint. If you accept the premise, count on not being disappointed by its effectiveness. (2018-06-27)

In this movie, you wait too long for something big to happen, and when it finally does, it's not as grand as you imagined it to be. There are good scenes here, but the performances are even better, with Michael Shannon simply outstanding in every role, in my opinion. Adam Driver shows that he's not just Kylo Ren, although you still might feel like he's acting somewhat similarly, though more on the side of good. (2016-06-17)

Great cast, focused direction, old-fashioned sci-fi feel. Unfortunately, it's a bit bland in the end. It doesn't make use of the interesting themes it presents. There’s no catharsis, nothing. Adam Driver is woefully underused, and so is Sam Shepard. The comparisons to E.T. are spot on, but it doesn’t win your heart. Jeff Nichols seems unsure of what he wants to say. (2024-02-23)