THE MIDNIGHT SKY | FILM REVIEW
Dir: George Clooney (12A, 120 mins)
A not entirely successful sci-fi drama, from director/star George Clooney and based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s 2016 novel, The Midnight Sky nevertheless has its moments. Clooney plays scientist Augustine Lofthouse, dying of a terminal illness in the wake of a catastrophic Earth event in 2049. The planet is being consumed by radiation for reasons never disclosed and Clooney has decided not to join the rest of the population, perishing or hiding underground: instead, he remains in the Arctic desperately trying to get a message to the Aether, an inbound spaceship.
Its crew have been searching for a new home for humanity on a newly discovered moon of Jupiter with no idea of the disaster that awaits them. Clooney, aided by a mute left behind girl, has to establish contact with them, which involves a dangerous trek across the Arctic tundra. On the Aether itself, a pregnant Felicity Jones and captain David Oyelowo – along with Kyle Chandler, Tiffany Booth and Demián Bichir – are one-note astronauts given little flesh on their bones. Packed full of suspenseful moments (an escape from a sinking polar shelter; a spacewalk to a Neil Diamond song), this still isn’t quite as good as it should be. Some clunky, on-the-nose dialogue, clumsy flashbacks, moments of tonally suspect humour and an overtly sentimental score from Alexandre Desplat get in the way of the gritty setup. Clooney is excellently grizzled as the driven Lofthouse, but the emotional payoffs don’t feel as earned as they should be.
The Midnight Sky is a larger canvas for Clooney as director and the impressive VFX work well, as do the sequences where Clooney battles the elements – some scenes, though, feel token, no doubt the result of executive notes yet not in keeping with the apocalyptic, environmental premise. Flawed but diverting, this is no sci-fi classic but has the occasional stellar moment.
Available on Netflix now
words KEIRON SELF