THE MIDNIGHT SKY, US, 2020. Starring George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demian Bichir, Tiffany Boone, Caolinn Springall. Directed by George Clooney. 118 minutes. Rated M (Mature themes and coarse language)
Set in 2049, we learn there has been ‘an event’ which has been apocalyptic, destroying Earth and its population.
But, this is also a sci-fi drama in space. In recent years, space stories have become popular with a wider audience – films such as Gravity, The Martian, Ad Astra. The Midnight Sky takes its place among these films. And, there is a particular connection. George Clooney was one of the stars of Gravity. He is the star here and has directed the film.
We learn there is a remnant of life on Earth, an isolated station somewhere in the Arctic. At the opening, we see helicopters taking away the population leaving only the grizzled commander, Augustine (Clooney). He carries on alone, meagre meals and the empty dining room, sick in his bathroom, nightly transfusions. He has vast equipment, contact with craft in space, but gradually sees all of them are out of contact, destroyed, except for one, Aether, but there are difficulties in actual communication. He sees his mission as warning them not to return to the destroyed Earth.
Clooney, not as young as he used to be, not nearly, is bearded and grey, shuffling around the station, an old codger on what seems to be his last legs. The question arises, will he be able to sustain an almost two-hour running time. Part of the solution is that he finds a little girl, Iris, who has been left behind (Springall). She is young. She doesn’t speak. She shadows him and there is a growing bond between them – a grandfatherly bond. We see the routines of the station. At one stage, the to go out on an expedition, surveying the countryside covered in ice, packs of fierce animals, staying in a tent, finding an old shed but it floods during the night, perils of the ice breaking, the shed sinking, having to trek back to the centre.
But, intercut with all of this is the story of Aether and its crew. The screenplay uses the device of showing an astronaut, Sully (Jones), on a beautiful sunny, mountainous, fertile moon of Jupiter, fearing that she has been left behind but it is only a nightmare. She shares the work of flying the craft back to Earth with the Captain, Adewole (Oyelowo), and a young astronaut, Maya (Boone), and two veterans played by Kyle Chandler and Demian Bichir. We follow their story, interrupted by rather long episodes back in the Arctic, as they fly their machine, are caught in space ice floes and collisions at enormous speeds, going out to repair their craft and the radar, finally getting through to the Arctic and discovering the reality on Earth and then determining what to do in terms of landing or returning to the Jupiter moon.
For those who enjoy films in space, there is a lot to interest as well as dialogue about life and death, life and meaning to ponder on. For those who are not so attracted to space stories, this particular version will seem rather ponderous.
Netflix
Released 8 January
Peter Malone MSC is an associate Jesuit Media