It’s true that dystopian or end of the world type movies usually don’t have happy endings, but I think George Clooney might have actually giving us one that’s full of Hope. That is the movie The Midnight Sky which just premiered on Netflix. It is a story about a cataclysmic event on Earth that was for the most part destroys all living things, but astronauts returning to Earth have lost communication and don’t know what’s happening. And the irony is, the astronauts were returning from a mission where they have found a planet that can sustain life. If there is one true message that is within this film it is that we can still have hope in the possibilities that lay before us, not all is lost.  The first thing that I want to say is this movie is beautifully shot. It is a visually stunning movie that probably should be seen in the theater, but it is also perfect for Netflix. The midnight sky is a film where the story is the same goal, but achieving it seems our two perspectives or what I like to call a perfect duality.

George Clooney also stars in this movie as the lone scientist left at a radar station in Antarctica, trying to communicate with astronauts returning to Earth. When there is one lone ship that has failed to communicate, but is still out in space, he must risk it all to tell them that they will not be able to re-enter Earth. That is where his story takes place in having to travel across Antarctica to a different radar station that has a bigger antenna. His story is about survival but a different kind of survival. For the astronauts, the two main astronauts play by David Oyelowo and Felicity Jones, their story of survival is much different where they have to decide to stay on Earth or take a chance on a planet that can sustain life. I did like this film very much not only because we get to see the different perspectives of survival and what one is willing to do to save humanity. but like all stories of survival, the main characters often wrestle with their own inner demons. The film is beautifully shot. On one hand, you get this cold dark landscape of Antarctica that George Clooney’s character has to travel across to the radar station that could contact the astronauts. The landscape is full of despair, but there is also something quite beautiful because along the way he is escorting a young girl and against that harsh landscape, he finds the best of himself. He finds a compassion that he may not have had once before because we get flashbacks of when he was a younger scientist. The other visually stunning part of the film is all of the scenes in space, from the spaceship they fly on to when they have to go outside and repair it. Sure it might be a lot of CGI, but there’s always something beautiful in a space movie when you get to see capsule against a backdrop of endless stars. I do feel like the cinematography really makes this a stunning movie, it’s almost as if you have to separate characters between space and the frozen landscape of Antarctica and helps to make the movie flow well. I often complain in movie reviews when I don’t feel like a movie flows very well, but I think this one truly did. But the second thing that truly makes this movie good are the performances. I applaud George Clooney for choosing a really good cast and probably the best scene when it comes to chemistry Between the cast is when they are singing Sweet Caroline play Neil Diamond as they repair the capsule.

  Now the film isn’t without its problems. The flashbacks are very nice on explaining who George Clooney’s character is and how much of an inspiration he is to the astronauts for his early work in space exploration. I also feel they don’t do a very good job of explaining his character in the beginning. While I do feel like it’s important, especially with the payoff at the end to the significance of his character and the little girl that travels with him to the radar station. I just don’t feel like its very clear in the beginning and the flashbacks seem out of place. It isn’t until about halfway through the movie that you realize who George Clooney’s character is remembering and of course the end when you realize why it’s important. The other thing that I kind of annoying is we get all of these great scenes with the you do get some chemistry Between the characters, but I also feel like we should know a lot more about them. However, I also understand it’s hard to tell a story with two different perspectives and try to keep it under two hours. So I have to ask, is this a story that would have been better told in a limited series with 4 to 6 episodes. We’ve already seen how a great space drama can fold over time where you really get to explore everything about your characters and what brings them into the story. Away, the story about the mission to Mars, which premiered on Netflix early this year was a good example. I could also use the series, which is another story about the mission to Mars called “The First,” which was on Hulu. Both were done well and you didn’t need 13 or 20 episodes to tell the story. It fit nicely in a short series. But maybe the problem was editing, what you choose to use in order to tell your story. I just feel like it could have been more. Like for example, we don’t know what really destroys earth or how the characters knew it was going to happen and figured out that their data about it was wrong. All of this is just the difference between a 2-hour movie versus a limited series and Netflix has definitely shown and they can do a great one-off limited series A good example of that is the detective story Unbelievable, which came out a couple years ago. And this is the kind of thing that can lead to pacing problems. As you well know, I harp on pacing because I think it’s one of the most important aspects to a good film. You never want a film to drag and it be too long just like you don’t want it to feel choppy and be too short. That’s we’re great editing comes in. So that’s why I can’t say The Midnight Sky is absolutely perfect despite being a great story.

I do want to commend George Clooney for making a good movie. I feel like he’s always had good taste in the projects he chooses to direct because his stories are always about the frailty of humanity and the main character is always trying to do the right thing despite insurmountable odds. This film is no different. As I mentioned before it is one of the few dystopian stories that has hope as its central theme so that the film is not a complete downer. There is good chemistry among the cast and I’m talking about the Astronauts. George Clooney does a great job as an actor portraying a character who is comfortable with isolation, but whose heart opens up with having to rescue a little girl left behind even though that’s not truly what it is. I didn’t walk away from this film feeling sad, I did feel hopeful at the film which I think is the point. I certainly don’t like films where I walk away feeling sad. I don’t think any of us do. It’s an emotional story and I don’t recommend anybody watching it if they’re in a bad place. But it is a dystopian story about hope and humanity fighting to still exist. It’s definitely worth watching on Netflix and George Clooney continues his trend of picking good stories to direct. While I do think this would have made a great limited series, it does work as a two hour movie as well. If you’re scrolling through Netflix looking for something to watch, I highly recommend it!