I haven’t really touched on or written much about sci-fi on this blog. I was reminded of this when I watched Midnight Special last night. Midnight Special is an interesting film – a kind of Close Encounters in reverse.
Without giving too much away, the film is gripping and has some eye opening scenes. It’s an extended road movie, with a few twists and turns and a very good performance from Michael Shannon.
However, there’s been a lot of debate about it online, with people examining holes in the plot, and complaining that not enough is explained. I don’t think the film needs too much exposition, and I think the cinematic experience of the film is stronger for that.
But an audience weaned on lazy writing and bad exposition could find the film a little irritating. Remember, Kubrick’s 2001 originally had a lot of explanation in the script – Kubrick removed all this and let the audience make up their own mind as to what was going on.
Still, it is a fine line for a script writer to walk, between explaining everything and explaining nothing.
Finally, Midnight Special is a solid film, but it’s not 2001.
The trailer is below…
Matthew Cooper has been a script writer for hire for over 20 years. He’s written for most of the UK soaps, including writing award winning episodes of Emmerdale, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Family Affairs. Matthew was winner of the first ever Lloyds Bank Channel Four Film Challenge, the Oscar Moore Screenplay Prize and has been BAFTA shortlisted and Royal Television Society nominated as a script writer. You can find some of his broadcast credits on the IMDb. You can get in touch with Matthew on matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk