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Midnight Special

Midnight Special

Adventure · Drama · Science Fiction · 2016

A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.

Movie details

Midnight Special

“He's not like us.”

2016 Adventure · Drama · Science Fiction 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

A father and son go on the run after the dad learns his child possesses special powers.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Midnight Special?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

Animation · 1983

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Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

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United States President Lex Luthor uses the oncoming trajectory of a Kryptonite meteor to frame Superman and declare a $1 billion bounty on the heads of the Man of Steel and his ‘partner in crime’, Batman. Heroes and villains alike launch a relentless pursuit of Superman and Batman, who must unite—and recruit help—to try and stave off the action-packed onslaught, stop the meteor Luthors plot.

Jacob

Jacob

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Isaac's son Jacob deprives his brother Esau of his birthright and has to flee for his life. He finds shelter with his uncle Laban, but is himself deceived. Finally, Jacob has to face both his uncle and brother.

The River Wild

The River Wild

Adventure · 1994

Gail and Tom Hartman are struggling to stay together and decide to take a white-water rafting holiday adventure in Montana for their son Roarke's 10th birthday, only to meet up with a pair of mysterious men whose desperation grows, turning their vacation into a nightmare.

Chronicle

Chronicle

Sci-fi · 2012

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

The High and the Mighty

The High and the Mighty

Adventure · 1954

Dan Roman is a veteran pilot haunted by a tragic past. Now relegated to second-in-command cockpit assignments he finds himself on a routine Honolulu-to-San Francisco flight - one that takes a terrifying suspense-building turn when disaster strikes high above the Pacific Ocean at the point of no return.

News of the World

News of the World

Drama · 2020

A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.

Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky

Sci-fi · 1993

After clearing brush for the government, a group of men return to town claiming their friend was abducted. Despite no apparent motive or evidence of foul play, no-one believes their story and his disappearance is treated as murder.

The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds

Action · 2018

After a disease kills 98% of America's children, the surviving 2% develop superpowers and are placed in internment camps. A 16-year-old girl escapes her camp and joins a group of other teens on the run from the government.

The Emerald Forest

The Emerald Forest

Action · 1985

For ten years, engineer Bill Markham has searched tirelessly for his son Tommy who disappeared from the edge of the Brazilian rainforest. Miraculously, he finds the boy living among the reclusive Amazon tribe who adopted him. And that's when Bill's adventure truly begins. For his son is now a grown tribesman who moves skillfully through this beautiful-but-dangerous terrain, fearful only of those who would exploit it. And as Bill attempts to "rescue" him from the savagery of the untamed jungle, Tommy challenges Bill's idea of true civilization and his notions about who needs rescuing.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jeff Nichols

Written by

Jeff Nichols

Michael Shannon

Michael Shannon

Roy Tomlin

Jaeden Martell

Jaeden Martell

Alton Meyer

Joel Edgerton

Joel Edgerton

Lucas

Kirsten Dunst

Kirsten Dunst

Sarah Tomlin

Adam Driver

Adam Driver

Agent Sevier

David Jensen

David Jensen

Elden

Sam Shepard

Sam Shepard

Calvin Meyer

Court is in session

Put Midnight Special on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.