Roy Tomlin (Michael Shannon) and Lucas (Joel Edgerton) pack some guns in bags in a motel room. Anton Meyer, who is Roy's son, is with them. The news on the TV is that Roy has kidnapped Anton and the public should report him if they see him. The trio hurry out to a car just after sunset. They eventually recruit Sarah Tomlin (Kirsten Dunst), Anton's mother, to the cause. Anton is a very special child with peculiar powers. He pulled down a military satellite, he causes blackouts and earthquakes, he is very sensitive to the sun (thus travel by night), and can intercept and decode radio signals (thus the government interest in him). His powers spawned a cult in which he was the prophet, a facet of the story that was only tangentially explored. Based on Anton's "prophecies," it is held that March 6th is a special day and Anton will protect them from whatever happens that day.
The movie starts in the middle. Often, this is a very good choice for movies, especially if the background is common knowledge (such as story set in WWII). Sometimes the background can be deduced by character actions and perhaps some dialogue. Frequently, when movies begin in the middle, there are flashbacks used as a big reveal. Perhaps it is non-linear storytelling (Pulp Fiction being the great example of that). Midnight Special is not in these categories. It feels as if we missed a lot of the story. Most of the characters thus have no character arc; the turning points in their story already happened and we are merely seeing that play out.
There are some things that happen off screen that really shouldn't. Why did Paul Sevier (Adam Driver) assist Anton in escaping the government installation? We have Anton showing impressive powers to Paul and then... Oh, we're out of the building! That middle bit might have been interesting. Or what of Lucas? We discover that he is a police officer who had been childhood friends with Roy. Consider that for a moment. Think of someone who was your friend until say 14 or 15 years old before he moved away. 20 years later, he shows up and asks to help him avoid the authorities while he absconds with his son. Yeah, sign me up! How about explaining the oddity that Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard) - the spiritual leader of the cult - has adopted Anton. Why did Roy and Sarah allow that? It is never explained but it was an elephant in the room to me. We see one instance where Anton "links" (for lack of a better description) with another character by way of blue beams from his eyes to the other. From interviews, we learn that he imparts 'prophecy' by this manner but it appears to cause an earthquake. It would have been nice to delve into this aspect of the character. Anton is still a big mystery at the end with ill-defined powers and scant explanation of why he was born to Sarah and Roy.
I very much doubt that Jeff Nichols - the writer and director - could explain why Anton had to go to Florida on March 6th. It is a chase movie with an artificial deadline and the reasons behind it are irrelevant to the chase. This is about a father doing what he thinks is best for his son. Roy's determination and perseverance is the best part of the movie. Peel away the sci-fi and that aspect of the film would still be strong. I would have preferred that. It could have been like when Elian Gonzalez's mother gave her life to get her son to Florida, only with a happier ending.
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