https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljLP6V3BPg0

A father and son are on the run from the government in this sci-fi chase film directed by  director Jeff Nichols (“Mud”). Roy (Michael Shannon) and his son, Alton Meyer (Jaeden Lieberher), go into hiding as the FBI and religious extremists are chasing the boy down since it was discovered he has super powers.  The father is in a panic to protect his son, something Nichols experienced as a first-time father. This bond is sensed through the film since it also had personal significance. It’s about unconditional love.

“Midnight Special” is a film about heaven, about what it means to be a father, and a parent. I took all of these with sci-fi inspiration,” said Nichols who was also inspired by the film (“E.T.”).

Like his character Roy, Nichols, felt he had little control when his son went into a febrile seizure from a high fever.  He was made glaringly aware of the fact he could die. The main thing was the fear of a loved one being hurt and injured and there is nothing you can do.

“Here I am walking down the street and yet, again, it’s another thing I have no control over that could cripple me at anytime. I had to figure out how to process it. You can’t control your kids– you can’t control the environment to keep them safe. That was the basis of “Midnight Special.”

“Parenthood is about trying to figure who your child is, not to cast any point-of-view on that, not to try to put what you want from them onto that—just try to understand who they are. All of this became the foundation and the basis for the main characters, Michael Shannon and Kirsten Dunst (Alton’s mother Sarah).” The film’s parents are working hard to understand their child with a blind faith.

“I think that’s kind of what parenthood is.”

In the end it was the son’s remarkable faith that comforted Roy in the film.

Saying “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Faith is something all of us must do alone–it’s a personal journey. This includes Roy and his creator Nichols, who has walked in many parents shoes. This sci-fi movie has more than an entertainment value, its raw emotion transformed to a script.

“I used it as a vehicle to express about my son and the feelings I had during my first year of fatherhood. As a director my main goal is to transfer an emotion to an audience. It’s actually difficult because of the gauntlet of the filmmaking process. ”

“Midnight Special” opens nationwide on April 1^st.