The Midnight Sky has quite a symbolic ending and a lot to unpack from it and throughout this post, we’re gonna be breaking it all down whilst giving our interpretation of it. Based on the book Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton, it tells the story of a man filled with regret trying to do one last good deed before he slips off this mortal coil.
Plot Summary
We start off in 2049, 3 weeks after a cataclysmic event that has completely ruined Earth’s air supply. Because God cupcaked the planet, those that could escape decided to leave and journey into space in the hopes of finding a new home.
Rather than following them though we stay behind with a terminally ill scientist called Augustine played by George Clooney. I know I’m not really selling the movie but trust me it gets better. Look it’s got Santa in it.
At an Artic base, we see Augustine trying to reach out to the passengers of The Aether, a ship making a return journey from the Jupiter moon K-23 which is capable of housing human life.
Aether actually means the air that the ancient Greeks believe was breathed in by the Olympians and they are very much seen as being above the Earth, looking down on us and living in somewhat of a paradise.
There are also many biblical references such as Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark and so on but we’ll get into this towards the end of the video.
Getting to Know Augustine
Now initially it seems like Augustine is joined by a young mute girl who was left behind by her mother at the start of the movie. Though this could be setting up the plot of the Home Alone reboot, it’s actually revealed to be a hallucination and the girl is a stand-in for his true daughter who is aboard the Aether.
Depending on how early you guessed this twist probably determines how much you will enjoy the movie and I have to say that the first half hour felt rather dull and slow but things do pick up as we watch the trials and tribulations that both sides of the story go through.
At its heart, The Midnight Sky is about Augustine analysing what he should have focused on in his life, namely his daughter, and it’s actually quite sad seeing the character living out his last days wishing he’d done things differently.
When Augustine was a younger man, he threw himself into his work at the expense of others and ruined his relationship with his partner and daughter because he was fascinated with K-23.
Augustine unfortunately was someone who spent his entire time trying to get away from those close to him and this is why he focused on the moon instead of making true connections. His goal, the one thing driving him, was to journey there but we know from what we see in the character that it would have been as empty for him as the life he had on Earth. He was someone who shut others out and clearly he didn’t want a family, possibly because he thought they would either be a distraction or something that would slow him down from his goals.
Now, this drive is actually something that helps the character make a perilous journey across the artic to reach a better functioning satellite base and it’s clear that in end he wishes to make a connection with someone, he’s just lucky enough to make contact with his own daughter.
Opposing Characters
Now several characters are the complete opposite of him and I think Augustine is very well juxtaposed by Mitchell who wants to return to Earth even after learning that it’s been completely decimated. Throughout the film, we see him as someone who is kept away from his family because of his work and he wants to do nothing more than get back to them. This of course is the polar opposite of Augustine who viewed his family as something that him away from his work.
Sanchez who too returns to Earth discusses with Mitchell how time is used and how to make one’s lifetime mean something. He discusses how his daughter died and that he dreamed that his child and Mitchell’s child were friends. He wants to use his time to help his friend, the one person that’s been there for him and shows that we can all find meaning in life and make it count.
Too Focussed on Work
There’s a really heartbreaking scene in which we see Augustine reminiscing over his partner telling him that she wasn’t pregnant. Clearly, this was a lie that she told to him because she realised where his priorities lay. Augustine couldn’t pull himself away from his work to even answer the phone to speak to her and thus we see that he’s willing to let everything go so that he can focus on his obsession.
His partner wouldn’t even tell their daughter that he was their dad because she knew that he would resent her for it if there were obstacles that got in the way but I have to say I think that Augustine actually resents himself more than anything.
I have to say watching the film a second time I found the flashback moments the most heartbreaking and not even the George Clooney voice dubbing over the actor’s lines put me off. It really showed someone who thought that what he wanted had more value than what he had and he was willing to throw it all away on the off chance that he could get something better.
On the other hand, Mitchell is willing to go back to certain death just to be with his wife and children because he knows that they are what made his life important and that he wouldn’t have anything if they were gone. Augustine however wished to spend his last few days dying by himself in the cold but clearly, his subconscious had other plans and thus it created this apparition of his daughter Iris to at least give him some connection.
I think this manifestation of her makes him realise that what he truly wants is to do is gain a connection to someone, anyone and thus he sets out on his final mission to reach out to the Aether. This is shown by him saying to Iris that he wishes she’d tell him anything about her life and clearly he wants to know if there was even any point to his life.
Dangerous Mission
Now the movie does have a lot of tense moments namely a sinking trailer in the middle of the artic as well as a debris field that hits the Aether when people are outside making repairs. Just a bit of advice yeah, never say that it’s your first and last spacewalk when you’re in the middle of it mate, asking for trouble there.
Connecting with Iris
However, I think the film really comes together in the end and it’s more about the emotional connections that are made than the sinking feeling that you get whilst watching the action scenes play out.
Now, in the end, the real Iris tells Augustine about the K-23 and how incredible it is.
He saw himself as being someone that just pointed to places whilst others explored them and doesn’t feel like there was much value in what he did. However, Iris completely negates this idea when she talks about how amazing it was that he discovered the moon.
She says that it’s similar to Colorado in which the two were both stationed at one point and talks about the sky being orange as well as the plant life and vegetation. As we know Augustine was never able to go there but this conversation allows him in his mind to arrive at the place he longed for the entire time, somewhere that his daughter will soon call home. With her, they look over the midnight sky which now has orange in it and he stares at Iris knowing that he did something. The character passes away as we hear Iris going narrating her time on the moon, indicating what the future will be like.
Augustine’s Redemption
She states that she’s never seen something so beautiful and in some ways, this verifies that all of Augustine’s work wasn’t for nothing. There was a purpose to it and rather than dying completely with a feeling of regret, he can look back on his life and know that his daughter was able to take something from it.
This is further hammered home by the fact that she says that he actually inspired her to become an astronaut. Though he was never really a father to her, Augustine can take pride in the fact that his work set the stage for the things that Iris would do and in some ways he saved humanity.
Augustine’s goal this entire time was to find a connection with someone, something to show that his work did mean something and that the sacrifice of his family was worth it. In the end, he does find this and through his daughter can see first-hand that though he has regrets over the way he acted that it wasn’t all for nothing.
I think Iris also being open to the idea of naming her daughter after another flower also suggests that his legacy will carry on through the child. Though he was never there for her in his life, his death and the actions he took in the movie saved hers and we watch as Iris and Adewole travel back to K-23.
Credit Scene
Now this credits scene in which they sit at the control panel brings a lot with it and clearly, the pair are going to be the Adam and Eve of their new world. Earth was a paradise at one point but they have been cast out and now must journey to a new home and start out all over again. God or rather Natural forces washed the Earth clean and with this Arc, they will travel to somewhere safe to begin again.
Might be reaching there but just how I took it.
Now the pair stepping away from the control panels is quite sombre and there are really two ways that you can take it.
You can see it as them living a long life together and restarting the human race or that they might face the same difficulties that Augustine did.
Adewole did seem quite apprehensive over learning that he was having a daughter and in some ways, I see him as a metaphor for Augustine. Though the pair hold hands in the finale, they’re distracted by a notification and then both return to their work.
Adewole steps away and leaves Iris at the panel with her unborn child and I kinda took this as symbolising that the mistakes of the past will be repeated. They go away using different staircases and who knows they may end up being separated.
However, that doesn’t mean that it’s for nothing and humanity will return though we could always be plagued by the same mistakes that we have been victims of.
Review
I think there’s a lot to take from it and though I didn’t really like Midnight Sky all that much first watch, I think the second viewing really elevated it for me when I had more of an idea of what I was in for.
I think a lot of people will take different things from it and I’d of course love to hear your thoughts and theories on the film below.
It’s really well acted and had the pacing been a lot tighter I think it would be getting more favourable reviews. However the heart is definitely there and though I guessed the twist in the first ten minutes, that doesn’t mean that the journey wasn’t worth taking.
The Mightnight Sky is something I think people should check out and make up their own mind on and it gets a…
7/10
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