5 Reasons Why You Must See MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

Every line in the poster above is correct about the film MIDNIGHT SPECIAL. It’s gripping, emotional and imaginative.

This film contains layers of depth and a mystifying tenor and has an extraordinary surprise reveal at the climax. (Review)

It’s an engaging and entertaining story and so far, one the best films this year.

Following impressive critical and audience response, the sci-fi thriller MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols, earned an outstanding $38,000 per-screen average across only five theaters in its March 18th debut in New York, Los Angeles and Austin, for an approximate opening weekend total of $190,000 in only five theaters, making it one of the year’s most successful limited openings.

The film, starring Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Jaeden Lieberher and Sam Shepard, first played to overwhelming acclaim at its February 12th world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, and again at SXSW on March 12th.

Stellar reviews have top critics calling it “brilliant,” “spell-binding” and “ambitious,” citing great performances and proclaiming Nichols “a master filmmaker.”

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL will continue its theatrical rollout with additional screens and markets on April 22nd.

A provocative, genre-defying film as supernatural as it is intimately human, it follows a father, Roy (Michael Shannon), who goes on the run to protect his young son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), a boy with mysterious powers that even Roy himself cannot comprehend. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government.  Risking everything, Roy is committed to helping Alton reach his ultimate purpose, whatever that might be and whatever it costs, in a story that takes audiences on a perilous journey from Texas to the Florida coast, while exploring the bonds of love and trust, and the nature of faith.

Here are the five reasons why you should walk, no run, to see MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.

Director Jeff Nichols pays homage to the sci-fi films of the ‘70s and ‘80s we all loved.

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is Nichols’ fourth film. Structured as a fast-moving thriller with supernatural overtones, it is also, at its heart, about the love and trust between a parent and child.

In that respect, it’s indicative of Nichols’ critically acclaimed body of work, from his auspicious debut with SHOTGUN STORIES, to TAKE SHELTER, which swept the Cannes Film Festival, and 2012’s critical, festival and audience favorite MUD. Each has explored, in its own way, the transcendent and universal theme of family bonds.

He has helmed a film that shows a mother, father and friends who will fight with everything they’ve got to save this unique boy.

The director also assembled what has come to be known as his “film family” for the shoot, a core group of behind-the-scenes talent, many of whom have been with him from his first feature. They include director of photography Adam Stone, production designer Chad Keith, editor Julie Monroe, and composer David Wingo.

The Cinematography is expansive giving the film an intimate feel inside a grander story.

“Luckily, I had one of the most amazing cinematographers and gaffers in the world working with me on this,” Nichols says. “Adam Stone has been on all of my films and we’ve kind of grown and come into our own together. It’s a relationship that only time and work can create. He’s just flat-out talented. He has an eye. I never knew what that meant before getting into this business, but the way he shoots things…they just look better.”

The special effects for Alton’s extrasensory abilities required further manipulation of light. Says Nichols, “We went to great lengths to create the beam from the boy’s eyes.  We shot anamorphic – which is the lens aspect ratio – using a very specific lens built by Panavision that give off natural flares if you point light right down the middle.”

The amazing score adds to the intensity of the drama.

For the score, Nichols reteamed with composer David Wingo, who provided the music for MUD and TAKE SHELTER.  Starting early, the two brainstormed on sound and mood. Nichols recalls, “If you listen to the scores of some of those ‘80s sci-fi films, they have a kind of pulsing electronic sound. I knew David would be good at that, but I didn’t realize how good until he sent me a demo, something he called ‘just messing around,’ and I listened to it every day on the way to the set. It’s the song that opens the film and also plays over end credits. He took all that great inspiration and made a piece of music that wasn’t derivative but was our music. It’s sounds contemporary and throwback at the same time.”

Wingo eschewed much of the current digital tools in favor of analog equipment, such as old-school Moog and Juno synthesizers.

At the same time, the coolness of the electronic soundscape had to be integrated with more emotional beats, in keeping with the story’s themes. “There was also some choral music that made it into the film, by a Norwegian composer named Ola Gjeilo,” says Wingo. “So I came up with some score of my own that fit in with that vibe, which is more spiritual and awe-inspiring, and where strings take a more prominent position. We talked about how the score holds back a little and then builds and blooms closer to the end.

“I’m a big fan of this score,” Nichols declares. “David is one of the greatest composers working today and I’m lucky to work with him. The opening and end credit theme speaks to the tone and the mystery of the story and it builds beautifully to more triumphant moments, with some very important emotional passages toward the conclusion. That was especially tricky because it has to help define a moment that’s scary, and sad, as well as awe-inspiring and, ultimately, beautiful and loving. So there are a lot of things to compress into a score that also has to evoke the 1980s sci-fi vibe that we established at the start.”

The stunts throughout the film.

One of the biggest is the sequence of the car chase down a logging road in which an SUV with Roy at the wheel runs over spike strips, crashes through a barricade and continues as far as he can take it, despite deployed airbags, deflated tires and shattered windows.

The vehicle was rigged to flip via a catch-wire and take a barrel roll with the actors and the camera inside.

When the cars weren’t on a tow rig, Shannon and Edgerton took turns driving, often with Nichols and Stone crouching on the floor or in an open seat.

“Jeff wanted to create situations that were grave and seemed insurmountable and then find a way through them, but it had to be credible,” says stunt coordinator Scott Rogers. “You had to believe the car would keep going. We weren’t trying to do crazy car stunts; it’s all action that supports the story. We worked in pre-production on ways to create an amount of damage to the car that we felt it could sustain and still function.”

The acting from Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver and Jaeden Lieberher is superb.

The ensemble cast assembled for this film is perfect. From Shannon’s and Dunst’s heart-breaking performances as parents of an other-worldly son, to Driver and Edgerton in supporting roles as two individuals who are drawn to this family trying to save their son.

But it’s Lieberher who provides such emotional depth to this boy.  From his uncanny composure and sense of purpose beyond his years, to the inexplicable white light that emanates from his eyes, this is a child whose capabilities defy earthly explanation and Lieberher’s deft performance shouldn’t be missed.

All the elements of this human story – the sci-fi, the chase, the supernatural – really work because you are really moved by the relationships and performances in MIDNIGHT SPECIAL.

Photos: © 2016 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. AND RATPAC-DUNE ENTERTAINMENT LLC