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Midnight Special | 2016 | PG-13 | - 0.5.2

A man (Michael Shannon) kidnaps his young son (Jaeden Lieberher) from a commune and makes his way across the country while being trailed by the FBI, the NSA and commune henchmen. Also with Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver, Sam Shepard and Paul Sparks. Directed by Jeff Nichols. A few lines of dialogue are in Spanish without translation. [1:52]

SEX/NUDITY 0 - A husband and his wife touch hands. A husband and his wife hug.

VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A man steps through a door and is shot in the chest (he is wearing a vest), he shoots at the person who shot him and we see blood on his abdomen; another man shoots a fourth man in the shoulder (we see blood) and two men are bound to railings as the attackers shoot their way into a room and drag a young boy out, and one man slams a woman's head into a wall before handcuffing her to a bar. A man shoots a police officer twice and he falls to the ground (no blood is seen). A man with a gun threatens another man (we see the second man unharmed later).
 A man holds a boy in his arms as the sun rises and the boy trembles, the ground rumbles and a large explosion creates what looks like a force field around the two people briefly and then it disappears. Large flaming fragments fall from the sky and crash into a parking lot and we see the rubble and scorched earth later.
 A man sits on the side of a bed where a young boy sleeps and we see a bright beam of light between their eyes; a man enters the room and hits the seated man on the back of the head and the boy screams (he seems to be in pain). Two men shove each other and one is shoved to the ground where they fight briefly. A boy gasps and seems unable to breathe, his eyes flash bright beams of light, he screams, falls to his knees and gags (we do not see vomit) and the grass around him turns brown. A boy's nose and ears are shown bleeding.
 A man flying in a helicopter appears nervous about the flight (everything is fine). A boy's eyes and hands glow periodically. A boy standing in an open marshy area causes an explosion that reveals a hidden city and glowing beings move through the woods around him and along the city structures. A man is shown wearing handcuffs and shackles and he seems to have wires attached to his head.
 A car speeds through a road block and is entangled in razor wire; the driver continues to drive as pieces of the car fall off and the car flips over and crashes onto its roof (we see the two men inside with some bloody cuts and scrapes). A man driving on a two lane road slams on his brakes and swerves off the road to avoid hitting another car that has come into his lane; another car then slams into the car broadside and we see the driver with a bloody head wound. A man drives a car on a highway, then speeds off an exit where he drives on a two-lane road with his headlights off (he is wearing night vision goggles). A man speeds on a road then on the shoulder to get around traffic; he is forced back on the road at a roadblock. A boy walks through a truck stop parking lot and looks at the sky where we see lights moving. A man and a boy run through the woods and the boy finds a cave/shelter area where they rest; the man tells the boy that the sun will kill him.
 Armed agents cut through gates to enter a compound where they usher many people into buses and take them to an empty school where they are questioned about their activities. Two men in a hotel room prepare guns and knives and carry a young boy outside and into a car.
 We hear several news reports about an 8-year-old boy being abducted by a man. A man tells another man, "We must get the boy back," and "The Lord has put a heavy burden on you." An agent talks to a man about the man having a large number of fire arms in a compound. A woman says that a boy's birth mother abandoned him.

LANGUAGE 2 - 1 anatomical term, 2 religious exclamations (Lord, Jesus).

SUBSTANCE USE - A man pours a glass of whiskey for another man (we do not see him drink),

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Cults, government secrets, treason, adoption, judgment day, religions, faith, fear.

MESSAGE - People fear what is different.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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