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George Clooney's film The Midnight Sky looks epic

Photo credit: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX
Photo credit: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX

From Cosmopolitan

If you’re in need of a little cathartic cry this winter (and let’s face it, who isn’t?), then look no further than George Clooney’s new Netflix film, The Midnight Sky. It’s a post-apocalyptic sci-fi served with a slightly scary dash of could-this-actually-happen realness, and we have all the plot, cast, trailer and release date details you need. Here’s everything we know…

What’s The Midnight Sky about?

A film adaptation of acclaimed novel Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton, The Midnight Sky follows Augustine (George Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe. As well as starring in it, Clooney also directed and co-produced the film. During a virtual screen talk at the 64th BFI London Film Festival earlier this month, he told Edith Bowman, “The guys at Netflix sent it over to me to act in it. I read it and loved it, and thought I’d actually rather take a swing at directing it.” He added, “[It] felt like a really intimate story about what mankind is capable of doing to mankind. I also liked the idea of a story of redemption, and this was kind of the ultimate story of redemption.”

Photo credit: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX
Photo credit: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX

Who’s in The Midnight Sky?

George Clooney (obvs), David Oyelowo, Tiffany Boone and Felicity Jones, who, during production, told Clooney she was pregnant. “I was in the middle of Iceland, really miserable, and she goes, ‘So, there’s news. I’m pregnant.’ I’m like ‘Great.’ And then I go, ‘OK, that complicates things,’” Clooney told Bowman. “She was so gung-ho. She wanted to do all the wirework. But I was like ‘No, we’re not putting anyone pregnant on a wire.’” He ended up revising the narrative so that Jones’s Sully became pregnant while in space. “It changed everything for us,” he said. “It gave us something to lean into for the end of the movie, which I think ends up being a big bonus for us, along the way.”

Photo credit: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX
Photo credit: Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX

Is there a trailer for The Midnight Sky?

Yes, and it gave us chills. We mean that metaphorically, but it’s full of icy Arctic scenes and the endless black sky of space, so it also quite literally made us feel a bit cold. You can watch it above, but maybe grab an extra jumper first.

When can I watch The Midnight Sky?

It’ll be in select UK cinemas this December and on Netflix from 23rd December. Clooney explained how, prior to the pandemic, he’d hoped to show the film on a huge screen. “We shot it on 65[mm] so that we could take it to IMAX,” he told Bowman. “And you got to watch it on a screen about [the size of an iPad].” That's fine with us, George – iPads are the perfect size for watching films in bed (where we'll be spending most of our evenings this winter).

Cosmopolitan UK's December issue is out now and you can SUBSCRIBE HERE.

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