The Midnight Sky story

movie: The Midnight Sky (2020) · 2020-12-11

A scientist must venture through the Arctic Circle to warn off a returning spaceship following a global catastrophe. The film is based on the 2016 novel Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton.

17 total · 6 major · 11 minor

Theme	Level	Motivation
anthropogenic existential risk to civilization	major	An unspecified disaster that was evidently man-made wiped out most of the Earth's population and left the surface contaminated with ionizing radiation.
coping with a terminal illness	major	Augustine was dying from an unidentified illness that required he undergo dialysis each day.
father and daughter	major	A revelation of the film is that the little girl named Iris with whom Augustine had been bonding was actually his hallucination of a daughter who he'd never known. The film concludes with him having a touching farewell conversation the real daughter Dr. Iris "Sully" Sullivan.
habitable moon	major	As a young man, Augustine had discovered the habitable moon K-23 in orbit around Jupiter. Thirty years later, in 2049, the a manned mission was sent to explore the moon.
hallucination of a non-existing person	major	In a surprise twist, it turned out that the young girl, named Iris, who Augustine had been bonding with was a hallucination.
space colonization	major	The crew of the Aether traveled to a newly discovered habitable moon in orbit around Jupiter to select a site for a future colony.
commander and subordinate	minor	Commander Adewole took charge aboard the Aether and organized a response after the spacecraft had been damaged by asteroids.
coping with saying goodbye forever	minor	Mitchell and Sanchez bid farewell to their fellow Aether crew members and before boarding a re-entry vehicle to go back to Earth. The remaining crew members Sully and Adewole would return to the habitable moon K-23 and to give humanity a second start.
coping with the death of someone	minor	The Aether crew pointedly mourned the death of their fellow crew member Maya who died from injuries sustained while out on a spacewalk.
drawing	minor	Young Iris communicated with Augustine by drawing pictures. For example, Iris drew a picture of an iris (the flower) to teach Augustine her name.