The Midnight Sky - 1 nomination

 

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Matt Kasmir (as Matthew Kasmir) 
Chris Lawrence (as Christopher Lawrence) 
Max Solomon 
David Watkins 

The Midnight Sky follows Augustine, one of the few survivors of a global apocalypse and a scientist who has devoted his career to finding other inhabitable planets.  He refuses to evacuate his station with the rest of the population, and in so doing, he discovers a young girl who was inadvertently left behind.  He realizes that there is an astronaut crew in space (also looking for inhabitable planets) and that they are in the process of heading home.  His signal is too weak to reach them so he and the girl must set out to another station to desperately warn the astronauts of the futility of coming home.  

And, there is plenty of drama in space. Both technically (having to venture out of the ship to do some critical but dangerous repairs), and interpersonally once they realize that their loved ones are likely not alive back home and they are humanity's last chance for survival.  Plus, spoiler alert, mission specialist Sully turns out to have a much closer relationship with Augustine than he first suspected.

While I like the film well enough, it is a pretty slow story and definitely not what I would call an action packed sci fi film.  In fact, the science fiction is much more backdrop than genre.  It is, to borrow a phrase, set decoration but hardly the crux of the film.  While it probably should be viewed on a big screen because of the visual effects, it's good enough for a streaming service and maybe not good enough for the price of a ticket.

Watch the trailer here.

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