I went into this movie knowing almost nothing other than what I saw in the trailer and I wanted it that way. It just seemed like the type of movie that is better left a mystery. Much of it is still a mystery after seeing it.
The film starts with an Amber Alert. Police are looking for a missing boy in Texas. We hear all this through a newscast on a TV screen in a darkened hotel room. We soon find out that the missing boy, Alton Meyer, is in the room with two men, one of them police are looking for. Come to find out, Alton has been taken from a religious cult compound dubbed “The Ranch” but it’s for good reason. One of those men is Alton’s biological father, Roy, who is going to do everything he can to get Alton to a safe place. The other man, Lucas, is a friend of Roy’s, who is helping.
You see, Alton is not an ordinary boy. When we first see him, he’s under a blanket wearing goggles. Those are for good reason. Alton can shoot bright lights from his eyes. Sunlight hurts him. He can pick up radio signals and decode military encrypted messages, among other strange powers.
Most of the film is Roy, Lucas and Alton, eluding police and even bad guys from “The Ranch.” They eventually meet up with Alton’s mother, Sarah, who finishes their journey with them.
There is a lot to like about this movie. The casting was great. Michael Shannon is great as the quiet and faithful Roy, who would do anything to save his son. Joel Edgerton plays a good sidekick in Lucas. Kirsten Dunst is good as Sarah, and Adam Driver is great as the NSA security expert who has been tracking Alton and his ability to break military codes.
I think there are a lot of genuinely good performances in this and the cast does their best with the story. I just didn’t think this lived up to what they were aiming for. The movie is slow-moving and sort of jumps the shark at the end, in my opinion. So much of the movie we are left to try and figure out on our own what Alton is. Is he an alien? An angel maybe? “The Ranch” seems to think he is some sort of prophet or god. Maybe that’s what they are going for? I personally believe he’s supposed to be some sort of alien.
What I didn’t like was the big reveal at the end. I feel like so much of Alton is ambiguous up until that point, why not just leave it at that? I don’t want to give it away, but I think the ending could have been a little simpler and much more effective.
Overall, it’s not a bad movie. I wanted to love this as much as other sci-fi movies, like Super 8 or Close Encounters of the Third Kind or even E.T. It just didn’t fill me with that “wow” factor like other films.
You can watch the trailer for "Midnight Special" here.
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