Netflix has released the first trailer for ‘The Midnight Sky‘. The space epic and post-apocolyptic film is directed by and stars George Clooney as the last man on Earth who effortlessly makes countless attempts to contact a space crew led Sully (Felicity Jones), to stop her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.
The Midnight Sky looks to be an amalgamation of survivalist films like Gravity and The Revenant, where the protagonist must overcome extraordinary odds in order to survive. Clooney returns to the front of the screen after a four year absence to direct a film that is based on Lily Brooks-Dalton’s book, using a script written by The Revenant scribe Mark L. Smith.
In the film, Clooney’s cancer-stricken character must face his own mortality, while also taking care of a surviving child named Iris (newcomer Caoilinn Springall) and desperately trying to send a signal to a space crew that is unaware of Earth’s cold and harsh condition. Together, they must journey through an icy toxic wasteland to get to an antennae that has the power to send a strong enough signal to Sully and her crew.
The film is exactly the kind of space-age Oscar-bait that Academy voters gravitate to. We’ve seen that in films like Apollo 13, Gravity, and The Martian. There is an undeniable uplifting feel that comes with these stories of hope and perseverance in the face of depressingly crushing ruination. It also helps to have a stellar cast led by Clooney, with the support of Jones, and David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir and Tiffany Boone makes for some great entertainment this holiday season.
No doubt there will be a few tears shed during this bittersweet space epic.
Here is the synopsis for The Midnight Sky:
Our humanity always endures. This post-apocalyptic tale follows Augustine (George Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to Earth, where a mysterious global catastrophe has taken place. Clooney directs the adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s acclaimed novel Good Morning, Midnight, co-starring David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir and Tiffany Boone.
The Midnight Sky debuts on Netflix on December 23, 2020.
