Midnight Sun (2018) Review
4:53 AM
Dreams Come True at Night.
Midnight Sun is directed by Scott Speer (Step Up 4: Miami Heat) and written by Eric Kirsten. The film is an English adaptation of the Japanese 2006 film Taiyô no uta. This version stars Bella Thorne (The DUFF), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse), Rob Riggle (Modern Family) and Quinn Shephard (Blame). "A 17-year-old girl suffers from a condition that prevents her from being out in the sunlight". Despite being delayed by almost a year, the English remake of Midnight Sun has finally hit cinemas...but should anyone care?
There is nothing good about Midnight Sun. It is definitely one of the weakest releases of 2018 so far. However, despite all of its flaws (and I mean all of them!), I somehow enjoyed my time watching this film; I was in an especially forgiving mood and therefore my score for this film may not be a true reflection of what it deserves. The acting is awful, the writing is cheesy and the plot is all over the place. Tween girls will love it....but everyone else? It's probably best to skip this one.
Midnight Sun shares numerous similarities with last year's Everything Everything; both films focus on a teen girl who cannot go outside, both films are (arguably) tasteless and both films are best enjoyed with your brain switched off. Despite these similarities, I would much rather watch Midnight Sun again than Everything Everything; although the depiction of xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is light and fluffy, at least in this film the disease is not used as the butt of a plot twist. This is not a review of Everything, Everything but it would have been difficult to write about Midnight Sun without mentioning a film that it so blatantly shares similarities with.
Katie Price's (Bella Thorne) biggest fear is being defined by her illness. If Katie was to watch Midnight Sun, she would be horrified to find out that her character is defined by trauma. The audience barely finds anything else out about Katie other than that she lives with XP and enjoys writing music. Charlie (Patrick Schwarzenegger) is another one-dimensional character and the only thing we find out about him is that he cannot pursue his dream career because of a foolish accident. Katie's dad, Jack (Rob Riggle) has lost his wife and is the sole carer for his ill daughter. The writers make little effort to add layers to any of the characters, leaving Katie, Charlie and Jack as pawns for emotional manipulation. It is clear that Kirsten does not understand these characters (especially Katie) as it is too ironic that his reinterpretations go against everything the characters believe in. If you are British, good luck holding a straight face every time "Katie Price" is mentioned; I couldn't stop myself from thinking of the British reality star.
This lack of character development allows for more focus on the development of the romance between Katie and Charlie....right? Some may argue that it is in poor taste for a film about any form of illness to make the illness the backdrop to a romance. Katie's illness is concisely explained (possibly to a fault); she can only go outside at nighttime meaning she sleeps most of the day. When the time is right, the film introduces the symptoms and signs of the downfall of XP. This part was laughable, too blatant and pretty terrible; we are told that the person starts to shake, we then see a patient in a waiting room shaking and then Katie's hands start shaking in the car. This should have been mentioned at the beginning of the film which would have allowed the execution to be more discreet and subtle. The script did all it could for the romance, there were [too] many corny and cliche lines (prepare to eye-roll over and over again), it was the performances that really hindered the romantic sparks from flying.
Bella Thorne's short acting career has been interesting. Thorne started off in Disney Channel's Shake It Up, a somewhat popular show. Thorne's theatrical debut in Blended (where she did a nice job), but really made an impression in The DUFF where she found her niche. Since she seems to have accepted every opportunity she has been offered as her resume is extremely varied...the only thing each of her films has in common is that they have not been successful. In Midnight Sun, Thorne is wooden and delivers the simplest of lines in an unconvincing way. Her tone is wrong; she often sounds sarcastic during serious moments or cannot stop herself from cringing at the cheesiness of her lines. Thorne's singing voice is also quite weak...and definitely not one that would become an instant-radio hit.
On the other hand, Patrick Schwarzenegger's acting career will likely soon be over before it has even started. Schwarzenegger finds a way to outshine Thorne as the film's weakest actor. For the majority of the time, Schwarzenegger appears lost and confused; he may be staring into Thorne's eyes but he forgets to bring any emotion to his performance. Schwarzenegger is awkward and shows little leading-man potential. His performance does improve throughout the film as he gets more settled in his role but someone like Nick Robinson would have done a much better job. I spent the entire film thinking that Rob Riggle was Nicolas Cage (don't ask me why). Nevertheless, Riggle is probably the most charismatic actor in this film but his performance often comes off as forced (especially when acting opposite Thorne and Schwarzenegger). The film's best performance comes from Quinn Shephard who is forgettable in a forgettable role...but at least she was likeable and funny.
SPOILERS
For the most part, Midnight Sun is harmless, brainless "entertainment". However, it is in the final act where the writing really takes the wrong angle. Katie starts to deteriorate and instead of the script showing sympathy for her, it focuses mostly on showing the sadness that Charlie and her father feel. One of Katie's final scenes sees her apologising to Charlie; instead of Charlie apologising for being the reason why Katie's XP worsened (if he had never taken her on a date, she would have never been caught in sunlight), it is Katie who apologises for not telling Charlie. Katie also helps her father set up an online dating account so he is not lonely when she passes. The film could have focused on how Katie has never been able to fully experience life and her short time on Earth is coming to an end but takes a rather compassionless approach; it is almost like an FU to Katie for leaving all of her loved ones behind (even though it is out of her control). Katie's death is glossed over; the screen fades to white after a boat trip with Charlie which is meant to symbolise her passing. I am still unsure about this as although it meant we did not have to see Thorne give a terrible portrayal of dying, it once again underscored the death of Katie.
A remake of a Japanese film that was not critically acclaimed in the first place, it is no surprise that Midnight Sun is one of the year's most flawed films. Any good that was in the Japanese original is completely lost; Kirsten's adaptation of the script includes thinly developed characters, corny dialogue and a contrived third act. Bella Thorne and Patrick Scwarzenegger are early contenders for 'Worst Screen Combo' at the next Razzies; their acting is awful and they have no chemistry. Midnight Sun is bad enough to cross into 'so-bad-it's-good' terriority; I am ashamed to say that I enjoyed watching this film. Spend your day sleeping, but do not spend your night watching Midnight Sun (unless you're me).
37
/100
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