midnight escape Midnight Special (2016)
Director: Jeff Nichols
Screenwriter: Jeff Nichols
Starring:: Michael Shannon / Jay Gordon Libo He / Joel ·
Production Country/Region of Edgerton : United States
Introduction: Roy took his eight-year-old son with superpowers all the way to escape. In this story, we will gradually understand why this child has to wear a pair of goggles all the time, and why people from religious extremist organizations to the American police are chasing after the father and son. "Midnight Escape" peculiarly mixes science fiction and family themes, showing the influence of conservative religious forces and the individual's inability to face the powerful state apparatus. During this journey, we will see a father who is willing to do everything for his son, using all his abilities to send his son on a path of fate related to the world's sorrow.
After the realistic theme of "Sludge", "Midnight Escape" is not exactly the Jeff Nichols we expected, but it far exceeds our expectations. Family emotions, hunting scenes, and science fiction themes are combined. Based on the supernatural elements of "Being", Nichols has embarked on the path of John Carpenter, and even has a trace of Spielberg's shadow.
But Jeff Nichols, who is also a director and screenwriter, still barely shines on the audience in the opening paragraphs. This is not only reflected in the low-light night scenes, but more is the news of boy kidnapping that is constantly scrolling on TV in the background sound. We don’t get anything from two men and one boy. Information, but it is clear that the night gives the best cover for escape. Such a low-key but arresting opening is also Nichols's style. And Michael Shannon played Roy and his son Elton (played by Jetton Lee Boch), but they are completely consistent with the information on the kidnappers and the kidnapped boys described in the TV broadcast. Why did Roy kidnap his son? Why are they fleeing? Where are they going? And why is Roy's friend Lucas (played by Joel Edgerton) willing to help? At the beginning of the movie, the audience who was not prepared at all was thrown into the story from a small cut and fled with the protagonist. But what makes people more suspicious is Elton, the boy himself. The goggles he always wore, his resistance to sunlight, and even Roy's attitude towards him as a father faintly surpassed his father's love itself, all implying the unknown difference of the boy.
At this time, the plot line is divided into two again, returning to the farm of the Catholic extremists from which the father and son escaped. With the intervention of the FBI and National Security Agency investigator Seville (Adam Driver), we found that the believers on the farm not only regarded the boy as the savior, but also hoped to bring him back to the farm before a certain day. So as to get salvation. However, the intervention of the state forces was due to the knowledge that the boy had magically obtained confidential state information, and the investigator Seville was the only one who had the will to truly understand all of this.
All the way from Texas to Florida, she found her mother Sarah (played by Kirsten Dunst) to join the ranks of protectors within thirty minutes of the movie. She abandoned her father and son and left the farm in the early years, but still maintained Wear the same hairstyle and clothing. The appearance of the mother role is also to complete Nichols's usual portrayal of family feelings in the face of crisis. Along the way, there were very few dialogues, and the audience asked far more questions than the answers they got. However, the scope of the movie's story has evolved from a simple escape story,
to a potential religious fable, pointing to the unknown. Biology and civilization.
Nichols squeezed and put a little bit of clues, and these clues all pointed to the boy’s uniqueness, like the two bright lights from his eyes when he took off his goggles and the amazing destruction he caused. Being different represents a world that is unknown to the protagonist and the audience, and that world is the end of the escape.
The director has repeatedly mentioned the intention of paying tribute to Carpenter's "Alien" on various occasions, and the dim tone and atmosphere of the film and the electronic soundtrack of the 1980s style have also confirmed this. From another perspective, it’s hard not to think of ordinary people who are also chased by national powers like "The Third Type of Contact" and the little boy on the poster with a high resemblance to "ET Alien". Alien movie in Pilber format. But at the same time, Nichols's signature movie style is still the core, and the description of family connection emotions and the portrayal of the change in character selection are both in three points. Especially at the end of the film, the four adult protagonists have undergone a "baptism" and their attitude towards belief changes, which is the veteran of the 37-year-old Nichols as a "film author".
It is conceivable that "Midnight Escape" is a full tribute to classic science fiction movies, and it may lose the appetite of a group of audiences, but this can be easily "forgiven" because there are too many Nicks under the theme. The details of the personal narrative techniques that Sils has buried are worth digging slowly, and this is what classic science fiction movies lack.
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