The Midnight Sky marks the return of George Clooney, who -aside of a short stint in front of the cameras for the TV adaptation of Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 on 2019- has not appeared in anything since 2016’s Money Monster. Based on a book by Lily Brooks-Dalton, the film stars Clooney as a scientist struggling with a severe illness in an abandoned base in the middle of the Arctic who finds himself caring for a lost girl and struggling to warn a group of astronauts from returning to earth, as it has been devastated by a horrible catastrophe. 

As with other films directed by Clooney, he has surrounded himself with extremely skilled actors and in The Midnight Sky the cast includes also Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir, Tiffany Boone, Sophie Rundle and Caoilinn Springall in her first ever role -who manages to be convincing and transmits what is going through her character’s mind despite only saying one word in the entirety of the film-. Clooney’s more rounded character allows him to create a performance that shines slightly over the rest of the cast, however, as expected, all of them are fine as usual and, despite having somewhat stereotypical characters, each of them finds their own individual moments to show their talents. 

The film goes back and forth between Clooney’s mission to establish communication with the crew of a spaceship returning to earth, and the members of said crew solving the tribulations they find after having explored a planet that might hold future life. Sporadically -with the purpose of reinforcing the fact that Clooney’s character has devoted his existence to science, while his own life has slipped away-, the film relies on flashbacks, and while these slow down ever so slightly the rhythm of the film, they act as a breather in specific moments to reduce the tension of the main storyline and their function of complementing our knowledge of the main character is accomplished, avoiding in the process the dreadful expository dialogue.

Despite the fact that The Midnight Sky is a science fiction film in which astronauts fight to survive in the middle of the emptiness of space while they are peppered with meteors and the central character has to accomplish an incredibly strenuous trip on the vast and icy surface of the Arctic, the film’s stronger moments take place when the action has stopped and the script finds time to develop the characters.

In a time in which people are separated and distance has taken a central role in our existence, it is wonderful to see a set of characters go to extreme lengths to find they are not alone and isolated; to establish a connection, even though the message they have to transmit is far from a positive one. The film is held together by those moments in which the plot explores the consequences of protecting those you love with all the risks that entails.  

It is a demanding task to make a great and original science fiction film in this day and age, nevertheless, Clooney has achieved with The Midnight Sky a successful adaptation of a book that manages to be a remarkable sci-fi film for the modern times. However, it has to be said that The Midnight Sky is not a notable film as a result of having the greatest special effects or due to the mind-blowing scientific elements of the plot, but as a result of the exploration of the more human and relatable elements of the story.