The actor-director’s filmography showed an interest in the scripts of the end of the world – including the production and role in a remake of the film “Fail Safe” for CBS – and returned here on that territory. Set in 2049, the film begins three weeks after an unspecified “event” describing the death of mankind, with Clooney’s Augustine – located in an Arctic outpost – still alive, but for how long no one knows.
However, Augustine has a task left to do: warn a spaceship with a diverse crew of astronauts to return to a dying planet, but rather in the hope of shooting them down, after a space mission that could have offered hope. a habitable planet on which they could take refuge.
Adapted from Lily Brooks-Dalton’s book “Good Morning, Midnight” by writer Mark L. Smith (“The Revenant”), the film oscillates between astronauts and Augustine, while presenting details about his character through a series of flashbacks. hate.
The premise is gloomy and the sleigh (literally, when Augustine realizes he has to get to another location to contact them) is difficult. There are also formidable challenges facing explorers, with a crew that includes Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir and Tiffany Boone.
With the exception of a rather dramatic action sequence, “Midnight Sky” moves to some extent, especially during the earth-related sequences involving Clooney and the young girl (Caoilinn Springall) who becomes his companion. (Tom Hanks also plays with a child in “World News”, so there must be something in the water.)
Perhaps inevitably, the film resembles other recent space commercials, including a film in which Clooney starred together, “Gravity,” and Christopher Nolan’s cerebral “Interstellar.” The main difference is a predominant sense of hopelessness that acts as an obstacle to drama.
Clooney established from the beginning with “Good Night and Good Luck” that he was a serious director, as opposed to an awkward movie star and that he risked with questionable commercial viability projects in “Suburbicon” and “The Monuments Men”.
“Midnight Sky” is relieved of any pressure to light up the Netflix box office sky, and that’s just as good. Because while Clooney has released a disturbing and thought-provoking film, dramatically speaking the story – much like Clooney’s taciturn scientist – he feels locked in his own prison.
“The Midnight Sky” premieres on December 23 on Netflix.