Midnight Special (2016)

An 8 year old boy (Jaeden Lieberher) is kidnapped from a religious cult by his birth father (Michael Shannon). The cult's leader (Sam Shepard) wants the child back at any cost as he sees the child as the cult's salvation. In the meantime, the federal government also wants the boy who they see as a threat to national security. I loved Jeff Nichols' 2011 film TAKE SHELTER which was one of my favorites of the year. I was far less impressed with his follow up film, MUD. Nichols, who also wrote the original screenplay, returns (sort of) to SHELTER territory with this intense sci-fi thriller. There are some glaring loopholes and a lack of explanation on a major plot point but Nichols' force of energy keeps such nitpicking at bay. It's not the kind of film where the acting matters much so it was nice to see what Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst (who's becoming quite the actress these days) bring to such underwritten roles. There's an underlying intelligence permeating the film which keeps it from being just another multiplex matinee. With Adam Driver and Joel Edgerton.