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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.

Strings

Strings

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The High and the Mighty

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Meltdown: Days of Destruction

Meltdown: Days of Destruction

Action · 2006

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I Am David

I Am David

Drama · 2003

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The River Wild

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Chronicle

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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.

Jonathan

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Jonathan is a young man with a strange condition that only his brother understands. But when he begins to yearn for a different life, their unique bond becomes increasingly tested.

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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.

Light of My Life

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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.