February 2049, three weeks after the “event” and Doctor Augustine Lofthouse (George Clooney) watches as the last people living at their Arctic outpost evacuate. He plans to stay in an attempt to warn the last remaining space mission sent to look for alternative homes not to return. 

We are never told what event has caused the Earth’s air to become toxic and unliveable. Nor are we told what the terminal illness that requires Augustine to do regular dialysis to stay alive is. The Midnight Sky is not interested in how these dire circumstances exist, just how Augustine and the crew of the Aether will react to them. 

Whilst Augustine goes about his daily routine trying to make contact with the Aether he discovers a young, mute girl has been left behind. Initially she is a burden he does not want, but soon Iris (Caoilian Springall) gives him a purpose to focus on. When they are unable to make contact they go on a dangerous mission to find an outpost with a larger antenna. As they make this journey the film cross cuts to the Aether. Where Captain Ade (David Oyelowo) leads his pregnant partner Sully (Felicity Jones), pilot Mitchell (Kyle Chandler), Sanchez (Demian Bichir) and Maya (Tiffany Boone) on their journey home from K-23, a moon of Jupiter. 

The Midnight Sky will feel familiar in lots of ways if you are a fan of science fiction. There are elements and scenes that will remind you of Interstellar, Gravity, Solaris (the Soderbergh remake with Clooney), The Martian and Ad Astra. Depending on how you feel about those films and this genre that may be comforting or off putting for you. It is also a somber end of the world story tinged with hope. It’s a very tiny glimmer of hope, but it is there. 

Clooney delivers a good performance and another interesting film in his patchy directorial career. I found it to be quite captivating as its slow reflective story unfolded even if it is probably a lesser film to all those mentioned above. 

An engaging watch.