The Midnight Sky

Peter McGinn

Okay, I get it: I have seen many critiques about this movie relying upon inaccurate science and featuring plot holes here and there. I admit to a bell going off in my head when our main hero Augustus seems to exhibit no death-like characteristics after diving into frigid arctic waters. But I have a tendency to suspend my disbelief in science fiction movies if the characters, the dialogue and the general story keep my interest. What kept me connected to the action was not the spaceship stuff, but rather the faltering, slowly developing interaction and relationship between Augustus and Iris, the girl left behind during the evacuation. It is handled patiently and believably. I found myself quite invested in them becoming close. (And I am setting aside the odd hints that Iris might not even exist outside Augustus’s own mind.) The scenes on board the spaceship Augustus is trying to contact were less compelling for me. My, those folks were consummate professionals, weren’t they? They bantered back and forth, but where were their emotions for the most part, except under extreme duress? Besides Maya, I wouldn’t have been shocked to learn they were androids. The Midnight Sky was entertaining enough to keep my interest, but it seemed to leave several questions in my mind, not the least of which was: it is well and good to send Adam and Eve to populate a new planet, but outside of serious incest, how are they to get past the first generation?