5.7
A lone scientist in the Arctic races to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.
George Clooney
Augustine Lofthouse
Felicity Jones
Sully
David Oyelowo
Adewole
Caoilinn Springall
Iris
Kyle Chandler
Mitchell
Demián Bichir
Sanchez
Tiffany Boone
Maya
Sophie Rundle
Jean
Ethan Peck
Young Augustine
Tim Russ
Mason Mosley
Miriam Shor
Mitchell's Wife
Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir
Frantic Woman - Katherine
Hanna María Karlsdóttir
Older Woman
Atli Óskar Fjalarsson
Soldier
Tia Bannon
Jasmine
Grant Crookes
Scientific Beneficiary (uncredited)
Director
George Clooney
Book
Lily Brooks-Dalton
Screenplay
Mark L. Smith
July 21, 2021
7
Okay, I get it: I have seen many critiques about this movie relying upon inaccurate science and featuring plot holes here and there. I admit to a bell going off in my head when our main hero Augustus seems to exhibit no death-like characteristics after diving into frigid arctic waters. But I have a tendency to suspend my disbelief in science fiction movies if the characters, the dialogue and the general story keep my interest.
What kept me connected to the action was not the spaceship stuff, but rather the faltering, slowly developing interaction and relationship between Augustus and Iris, the girl left behind during the evacuation. It is handled patiently and believably. I found myself quite invested in them becoming close. (And I am setting aside the odd hints that Iris might not even exist outside Augustus’s own mind.)
The scenes on board the spaceship Augustus is trying to contact were less compelling for me. My, those folks were consummate professionals, weren’t they? They bantered back and forth, but where were their emotions for the most part, except under extreme duress? Besides Maya, I wouldn’t have been shocked to learn they were androids.
The Midnight Sky was entertaining enough to keep my interest, but it seemed to leave several questions in my mind, not the least of which was: it is well and good to send Adam and Eve to populate a new planet, but outside of serious incest, how are they to get past the first generation?