Midnight Special

Synopsis: Alton Meyer is a boy unlike any other in the world with bizarrely powerful abilities and strange weaknesses. In the middle of the night, his father, Roy, spirits him away from the isolated cult that practically worships him and is determined to regain him at all costs. At the same time, Alton's abilities have been noticed by the US government as well and they are equally insistent on getting to the bottom of this mystery with Paul Sevier of the National Security Agency leading the Federal pursuit with his own questions. These rival hunts force father and son into a desperate run towards a looming date with destiny that could change everything.
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Jeff Nichols
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  3 wins & 14 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.6
Metacritic:
76
Rotten Tomatoes:
83%
PG-13
Year:
2016
112 min
$3,324,164
Website
1,194 Views


Good evening. Thanks for tuning

in to your news at 6:00.

A breaking story for

central Texas tonight.

Police issued an amber alert

for an eight-year-old boy.

He was abducted from his home

near Eldorado, Texas, last night.

We don' t have a photo of him

yet, but this is what we do know.

His name is Alton Meyer,

he is eight years old,

white, with blue

eyes and brown hair.

- 4 feet and 8 inches tall...

- Its time.

...and believed this man,

Roy Tomlin, took him.

...he is said to be armed

and extremely dangerous.

If you have any information

please call 911...

Its time. Are you ready?

Yeah.

Better lose the bedsheet.

Okay.

Attention all units for a

wanted person broadcast.

Be on the lookout for a 1972 Chevrolet

Chevelle, primer gray in color...

...bearing Texas license plate

159AG2 driven by two white males...

- Pop that open.

- ...and is heading on I-30.

Any unit coming into

contact hold and notify.

Hand me those goggles.

Kill the light, Alton.

Again no photos have been provided of

the eight-year-old boy, he is white...

...4 ft 8 inches tall,

weigh roughly 60 pounds...

...with brown hair and blue eyes said

to be traveling with this man...

...Roy Tomlin. Please call

911 with any information.

Stay with us after the break...

Did the ranch put this out?

No. This is something else.

Thank you, Levi.

What you do now...

...will decide our

whole way of life.

You have four days, to

get the boy back here.

He wont give him back easily.

But we must get him back

in time, you understand?

The Lord has...

...placed a heavy burden on you.

- Peace be to you.

- And to you.

Well begin with a reading

from March 17th, 2011.

Gulf Eclipse. And

the numbers came.

35, 47, 97, 52.

Buildings tower.

The light comes.

To know the source of such things

is to know our place in the world.

...are guided by a plan,

unknown to us, but...

Friends. These gentlemen are

from the federal government.

I suggest you listen to

them very carefully.

Please remain calm.

We are agents from the Federal

Bureau of Investigation.

We have a warrant to

search the premises

and detain all members of this ranch.

There are buses...

...waiting outside to transport

you to the campus...

...of Jefferson High

School in San Angelo.

Please exit the building

in an orderly fashion.

You' ll receive further details

when we reach our destination.

Are we good?

It's better to get

across state line.

Weve passed three counties.

Id like to slow down.

Lucas!

Alton, stay down.

Ma'am.

Ma'am.

Shes hurt real bad!

Shes gonna need an ambulance!

Shes got a bad head wound!

Dont.

Shoot him!

Get back in the car!

Alton is more important!

Get back in the car!

- Shoot him!

- Ive got this...

Shots fired, officer down.

Send medical 10-18.

Country road 36.

One mile east of marker 87.

Everything is fine. Buckle in.

Its okay. Just

settle down, alright?

You want your comics?

Here.

He had on a vest.

You didnt know that.

You did the right thing.

Hes more important.

You didnt just shoot

a state trooper.

We had you under surveillance since

members of your ranch acquired...

...a sizable number of firearms over

the course of the last six months.

Do you have an

explanation for this?

Well, its not illegal to own

weapons in this country yet.

Whats the main

economic function...

...of your ranch?

We [...], cattle, dairy,

but they are not for profit.

We use them ourselves.

Hi. Hello.

Hi, sir. Agent Miller?

Hi. Paul Sevier, NSA. Nice to

finally meet you in person.

Hello.

As I said, my name

is Paul Sevier.

I work for the NSA in the

field of communications.

Do these mean anything to you?

Ignore the rest of this.

Polo step?

Meridian Alpha?

Red Saber?

The number combination...

...53, 23, 77, 1, 27?

Yes. They are excerpts

from my sermons.

That particular one is from...

...a reading January 18, 2010.

Yes, it is. Did you write this?

Yes.

What if I told you that words and

numbers contained in your sermons...

...include sensitive

government information...

...that, given the

dates you provide,

were transmitted solely by satellite

through a heavily encrypted format,

the decryption and

dissemination of which,

other than being

scientifically impossible,

would surely carry punishments

of treason that are so severe...

...the government probably

hasnt invented them yet?

They came from the boy.

It' all from the boy.

- Alton Meyer?

- Yes.

Okay. Well...

- We knew that.

- Hes your son?

Adopted.

- Do you know the birth father?

- Yes, I do.

Roy Tomlin.

So can you tell us how an

eight-year-old got this information?

He would have fits.

Can you explain that?

And speak in tongues.

Sometimes other languages,

sometimes unknown languages.

We wrote them down. They

became our scripture.

These are words of the Lord.

Or the Federal Government.

What is the significance

of Friday, March 6th?

We need to know where he is.

You all have no clue of what

youre dealing with, do you?

Ive prepared a room for him.

Alton, its wonderful

to see you again.

Yes, sir.

Are those windows blacked out?

Yes. It's cardboard

behind the drapes.

Well, I'll... Ill let

you all get settled in.

Thank you.

Kick your shoes off.

Get some sleep, Alton.

Night, Lucas.

Goggles.

Try and sleep.

Well have breakfast

when you get up.

Okay.

Thats National.

- What about the State Trooper?

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Jeff Nichols

Jeff Nichols is an American film director and screenwriter from Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied filmmaking at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Nichols has directed Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud and Midnight Special. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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