How special is 'Midnight Special'?

Plot synopsis: The government and a group of religious extremists pursue a man (Michael Shannon) and his son (Jaeden Lieberher), a young boy who possesses special powers.

E.T. - PHONE HOME

A lot of people have given this praise, and for good reason. Not only is it about a kid with some truly unique and mysterious super-powers, but the origin and extent of those powers are mysterious, along with where they are going and why. As you can probably guess, a big portion of this flick is more or less independent with its direction - which I believe more super hero flicks need to be in the future. We're getting too predictable in that realm, and I believe Jeff Nichols did a decent job (as he always does) making sure the movie feels original...and I commend him on that. 

What's also important to notice is the dynamic between father and son. Yes, Jeff Nichols wrote this as inspiration on the idea of becoming a father...and that won't go unnoticed. This is clearly also about the special bond between father and son, and the lengths a father will go to keep his child safe.

Finally, the last point I want to make about the story is it's similarities to E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial. I won't spoil the entire world on how these two have mirroring stories at certain times, but I really feel like it does. Yes, most of it is independent and original, but with certain elements...E.T. came to mind, and that's not something I'm complaining about by a long shot.

A generous mix of cinematography and visual effects

Midnight Special is beautiful. It's not overly artsy fartsy, as it does have a smaller-than-normal movie budget, but it used what it had to its full potential. That means every thing from the precise shots chosen by the director of photography, to the way it was then shot by the cinematographer, all the way to post-production with the visual effects...it was all done really well. 

It's an ambient life

I don't normally notice soundtracks in film because in today's world, that's not really something that's focused on as much as it used to be, unfortunately. Every now and again, you'll run into a great score that'll be remembered for generations, but they are so far and few between. Midnight Special didn't have a super memorable score, but it did have a great selection of sounds. They used ambient music throughout the film mixed in with a typical orchestra - which made this movie a little more unique than it could have been. 

A father and son and someone you know.

It wouldn't be too hard to say that half of this film is about the story while the other half focuses all its strength on the characters. Not just the father and the son, though that is the most prominent. It also focuses on the rest of the characters pretty evenly - and the characters are great...the actors...I'm not sure. The actors did a fantastic job, don't get me wrong (especially the kid) - but I couldn't help but ask myself if anyone else would do a better job portraying these characters. In the end, I believe the answer to that is yes. As much as I love the characters, they could have been more memorable - and that's really up to who plays the character(s).

Different, mysterious, original, escalating to something more.

Midnight Special has all the elements you typically want to see out of a good film - and the best part about it was that it was a slow climb. There will be a lot of moments during the film where you will be confused, where you will be asking questions, where you will have doubts about the film having the ability to wow you. However, once things get going you'll notice one major point - things start getting better as the film progresses. It starts out slow and gives you time to adjust and understand what's going on before it takes you for a ride. Overall, I was impressed, and would recommend this to any fan of Jeff Nichols.