Midnight Special (2016)
What to say about this film? It’s…competently made. Basically a pastiche of a number of past films.
Namely, D.A.R.Y.L., Starman, E.T. and an episode of The X-Files.
You can feel the influence of all these things throughout the film. Unfortunately, it never really does anything new or interesting with them. The performances throughout however are pretty solid. The standout being newcomer, Jaeden Lieberher. He does an excellent job with the role. I think he has a bright future ahead of him.
The biggest failing of the film is that you’re never really made to care about the characters. They’re never given any room to breath and so there’s no time to get to know them. As such you’re never really all that invested in their journey or in their success. A pity as with a little tinkering this could have been a memorable homage to a forgotten subgenre.