Shannon has been Nichols' good luck charm since his debut with Shotgun Stories, taking the lead in the exceptional Take Shelter and a pivotal supporting role in Mud. Now, Shannon stars in Nichols' sci-fi father/son chase movie Midnight Special. Is that a horrible way to describe the film? Yes, probably, but those are the basic building blocks of a movie that looks right at home on the multiplex screens of the early 1980s.
While the trailer doesn't push any real wow factor, Nichols is one of the more interesting directors working in America today. Let's call this X-Men without the X-men; Superboy instead of man... A little E.T., a splash of The Fury.
Midnight Special also stars Kirsten Dunst, Joel Edgerton, Adam Driver and Sam Shepard. It opens stateside March 18, 2016.