Prerna Singh
‘The Midnight Sky’ is a science fiction film based on the novel ‘Good Morning, Midnight’ by Lily Brooks-Dalton. It follows Augustine (George Clooney), a lone scientist who must warn Aether, the spaceship returning to Earth, not to land since the planet has suffered a global catastrophe. Augustine’s only companion is a little girl called Iris (Caoilinn Springall). The film captures the survivors’ loneliness and the pendulum swing between hope and despair. If you enjoyed watching this film, we have a list of similar films you may like.
7. Solaris (2002)
Let us start with another George Clooney film ‘Solaris.’ Almost the entire movie is set on a space station that orbits the eponymous planet. The film takes off on a slightly different tangent than ‘The Midnight Sky’ but is pegged around human relations. Flashbacks of the life that Dr. Chris Kelvin (Clooney) once had makes him question his reality and beliefs as he fights fiercely for a second chance. Whenever a film deals with space travel, there is a solid risk of being marooned as the characters are left wondering if there is “anybody out there.” We see this even in ‘The Midnight Sky.’
6. Moon (2009)
‘Moon’ has a slightly different twist that revolves around clones and unethical corporate practices. Sam Bell is hired for a three-year stint with a mining project on the Moon by Lunar Industries when he learns that there are hundreds of clones made from the original Sam Bell to save the company heavy costs that would have been incurred to train and send a new astronaut. Themes of loneliness and the importance of companionship run deep in this film as GERTY, an artificial intelligence, is Sam’s only companion. This angle of the film is reflected even in ‘The Midnight Sky,’ where Iris comes to mean a lot to Augustine.
5. Gravity (2013)
In 2014, ‘Gravity’ won seven Oscars, including Best Original Score, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. The science-fiction thriller follows two astronauts stranded in space after their space shuttle (Explorer) is destroyed on its way back to Earth, killing most of the accompanying crew members. What makes this a compelling story is the fear of being isolated and the hard-earned privilege of survival. Apart from the fact that the film features George Clooney, we also see that the survivors on Aether go through a similar struggle in ‘The Midnight Sky’ as they are hit by stray space debris
4. The Martian (2015)
If this film does not make you appreciate life, we don’t know what will! Left alone and presumed dead, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) thinks of creative solutions to sustain himself on a planet “where nothing grows,” while also figuring out a way to contact NASA. As we hear Watney’s monologue in the film, one thing that sticks is that it is human nature to help one another.
Compassion and courage are the highest virtues of human beings that are evident in this film. Watney’s unshaken belief in himself in the face of the worst kind of ambiguity is truly inspiring. The crew members of Ares III take their chance against all odds to travel back to Mars to rescue Watney, just as Augustine goes the extra mile to warn the returning astronauts.
3. IO (2019)
Following a global disaster, the atmosphere of Earth has become toxic and uninhabitable. While most of the population leaves for Jupiter’s moon, Io or Jupiter 1, Sam Walden refuses to leave Earth. She risks everything by deciding to stay behind, relying on bee cultivation to pollinate oxygen-producing plants. One of the underlying themes of ‘Io’ is hope and how it influences the decisions a person makes. In ‘The Midnight Sky,’ Iris, and Sully’s unborn child, gives the storyline the element of hope.
2. Armageddon (1998)
‘Armageddon’ is the second film in 1998, apart from ‘Deep Impact’ that revolves around life on Earth being threatened by an asteroid collision. The star-studded ensemble cast of ‘Armageddon’ made it the highest-grossing film of the year. A team of the best deep-sea oil drillers is sent into space to drill the asteroid and plant a nuclear weapon that will split it into two, causing the two halves to fly past Earth instead of crashing into it. Like ‘The Midnight Sky,’ this film emphasizes the resilience human beings tend to show in the face of adversity.
1. Interstellar (2014)
It is impossible not to discuss Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’ in this list of films. The movie is set in a dystopian future where survival is a big question. A group of astronauts is sent in search of another habitable planet for humankind, much like the astronauts aboard the Aether. At the heart of it, ‘Interstellar’ also pivots around human relationships, which is another theme that strongly emerges from ‘The Midnight Sky.’ The relative experience of time makes us reflect on all that we take for granted, especially nature and people.
Read More: Where Was The Midnight Sky Filmed?
