Playing brothers - named, amusingly, “Justin” and “Aaron” - the film picks up years after the duo have escaped what’s described as a “UFO death cult,” though their interpretation of the group’s motives still differ, even with its presence seemingly long behind them. Indie whiz kids Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead had already impressed audiences with their captivating, inventive, and DIY-feeling features like “Resolution” (a sci-fi twist on the addiction drama) and “Spring” (a sci-fi twist on the whirlwind romance) before they went whole-hog sci-fi wild with 2017’s thrilling “The Endless” (a dramatic twist on an alien abduction drama, inverting their own obsessions with wondrous results). Bolstered by a class act cast that includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ruth (our primary heroine), Lorraine Toussaint, Saniyya Sidney, and David Strathairn, Hart ably turns a heartfelt family drama into a soaring sci-fi feature that’s built on real ingenuity.
The superhero stuff might be cool (and it is), but the film is less a “superhero movie” than it is a sci-fi-inflected, incredibly earnest exploration of seizing your own power and using it, truly, for good. Instead, it’s really, as IndieWire’s own Eric Kohn put it in his review, “an allegorical story about generations of Black women who are forced to suppress their strengths, and the mounting courage they find in finally taking charge.”
#Science fiction top movies from 2017 movie#
KEĭespite its quick logline - it’s a superhero movie about a Black woman! - Julia Hart’s winsome and wise “Fast Color” hardly fits into the superhero movie mold that the MCU and DCEU have hammered into place over the past two decades. It’s tense, taunt, and emotional, with a creative sci-fi bent that speaks to an ever-evolving genre. The pair go on the road with an old friend (Joel Edgerton) and Alton’s mom (Kirsten Dunst), in an attempt to reach a very special destination and, oh yeah, escape the scads of government officials that are after them. Shannon plays devoted dad Roy, who has recently liberated his gifted son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) from a religious cult that’s built its beliefs around his very special powers. On the surface, a sci-fi feature like “Midnight Special” might not sound like the right vessel for such work, but Nichols’ film uses the best tropes of the genre to tell a new story that feels richly lived in and very satisfying.įeaturing his frequent leading man, Michael Shannon, “Midnight Special” evokes classic sci-fi features like “Starman” and “Close Encounters,” all mixed up with road outings and an added dash of supernatural mystery. Jeff Nichols’ remarkable filmmaking career has been marked by deeply felt, refreshingly sincere films that place human experience and emotion at the forefront.
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