I did not expect to enjoy this movie as much as I did but as we headed towards the climax I was covered in goosebumps…

The Midnight Sky follows a professor called Augustine who specialises in finding habitable planets for humans to go to if the Earth ever did come to an end. He manages to find a planet that could be used, the moon of Jupiter, and in the future we see a group of astronauts at a space station at the moon as they have completed their course of travelling there to see what it’s really like and then travelling back to Earth.

But on Earth things have taken a turn for the worst and everyone is being evacuated, many going underground, due to the radiation in the air. Professor Augustine however wants to stay and contact the spaceship to tell the astronauts on it that the Earth is no longer habitable and they should stay on Jupiter’s moon. Before he can go on this trip to find a working radio station he comes across a young girl who has been left behind in the evacuation and he must use all his might to not only get the information to the astronauts but also to keep this little girl safe.

This movie has a lot of interesting plot points about children and the future and hope. While Augustine has this young girl he has to care of on Earth, one of the astronauts is also pregnant with a little girl and so we see both sides of the coin. One of how scary pregnancy and looking after a child can be but also the hope that a new child brings and the chance of life continuing wherever it may be.

I especially enjoyed the mirroring of the Antarctic that Augustine is in and the vastness of that versus the vastness of space. Especially when the crew needed to venture outside to fix their communications, the size and magnitude of space is incredible, and when Augustine gets stuck in a snow storm with this young girl being surrounded by wolves. It’s mirrored once again how vulnerable these people are and how open they are to the dangers around them.

Not only was the casting great but the set design, the soundtrack, the way it was filmed, everything was so beautiful and really evoked so much emotion from the audience. In the snowstorm scene I felt absolute terror at the thought of what could happen to this little girl, and seeing the snow form in Augustine’s beard was terrifying to think what if he never makes it to where he is hoping to go. The same with the spaceship, when it gets battered with meteors, the fear that this struck with them in this endless void and thinking one thing breaks and everything could go wrong and they could be stuck there forever is just absolutely terrifying. I cannot even begin to imagine what that must be like.

I am not the biggest fan of science fiction films, science fiction isn’t something that really excites me or brings me much entertainment but watching this film was an absolute treat. It had so many layers to it and the twists and turns we got to experience along with these characters was something I cannot describe. It was so captivating and the music playing along in the background and the fear of not knowing what will happen next just kept you glued to the screen the whole time.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. It was absolutely fantastic and such a joy to watch and it really makes you think what you would do in that situation, and how far away are we really from having the situation possibly happen?

What do you think of The Midnight Sky?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding