The Midnight Sky
This film played out as a dark poem. Pay attention as it unfolds into an emotional crescendo that will delight those wrestling with the meaning of life.
The Midnight Sky, directed by and starring George Clooney, is a futuristic description of how Adam and Eve began. No, God is not involved, but humans are searching for an existence where mankind can survive.
It takes place in February, 2049. Clooney, heavily bearded, plays Augustine, a scientist left living alone in the Arctic. Three weeks earlier a pandemic erupted that is quickly destroying life on earth, discovering that five astronauts are returning after two years in space, he seeks a way to contact them with the warning not to land.
Augustine’s past has meaning, and you watch him as a young man (Ethan Peck) say goodbye to the woman who loves him (Sophie Rundle) and their young daughter to pursue his career. His relationship with a daughter who never learns her father’s identity defines the glue that will bind this film to your heart.
The space crew give wonderful performances, Demián Bichir (Sanchez); Kyle Chandler (Mitchell); and Tiffany Boone (Maya) need to be mentioned, as you watch their ship return after discovering a planet near Jupiter where humans can live, attention centers on their two other crew members, a pregnant Sully (Felicity Jones) and her lover Adewole (David Oyelowo).
These are two great actors, as shown by Ms. Jones in her Oscar nominated role in The Theory of Everything (2014) and On The Basis of Sex (2018) where she played Ruth Bader Ginsberg and who can forget Mr. Oyelowo in A United Kingdom (2016), Queen of Katwe (2016) and Selma (2014) where he was a standout as Martin Luther King.
As you watch the camera flash back from space to earth, you watch Augustine journey through blizzard conditions in the Artic to reach a station that may allow him to contact the astronauts. He is accompanied by a little girl who was apparently left behind when his co-workers left him at the film’s beginning.
That child’s name is Iris. Remember that, as it defines the meaning of the entire film. Will Augustine become a savior that will allow Sully and Adewole to become the reincarnation of Adam and Eve? See this tiny movie and find out.
