Midnighters – Movie Review (4/5)

Midnighters is a wonderful surprise of a thriller. It keeps on throwing new little plot twists at you, but really, it’s all about the intriguing characters.

We follow the married couple, Lindsey and Jeff Pittman, on a New Year’s Eve. They’re facing financial struggles and their marriage isn’t doing too well either. Still, they try to remain positive and head home a bit early in the evening to get a fresh start to the new year.

That’s when everything starts going wrong. Really wrong!

You can watch the trailer for Midnighters right here or continue reading our review below.

I adore Alex Essoe

The actual protagonist of Midnighters is the wife, Lindsey, and she’s portrayed by Alex Essoe. If you’ve watched some of the best indie horror and thriller movies in recent years, then you probably know her.

Maybe not her name, but certainly her face and awesome previous characters. She was the star of Starry Eyes (2014) and more recently The Neighbor (2016).

In Midnighters, her husband is played by Dylan McTee, who does an awesome job. He’s not particularly likable since he’s pretty much one big excuse. Still, you do understand his frustration – to a point, anyway.

He has quite a few scenes with Lindsey’s sister, Hannah. She’s portrayed by Perla Haney-Jardine, whose first role was playing Uma Thurman’s daughter in Kill Bill: Vol 2. Her second role was as Jennifer Connelly’s daughter in a US remake of the Japanese horror movie Dark Water.

Ward Horton starred in Annabelle. He was the husband, who brought the Annabelle doll into the house when he bought it for his pregnant wife.

There are more characters and great performances in Midnighters, but you really should watch the movie to get all the good stuff. This is the kind of movie where the story is constantly evolving and the characters are pretty unfortunate or very lucky.

TV horror experienced director

Midnighters was directed by Julius Ramsey, who previously directed a few episodes of iconic horror TV shows. He’s worked on both The Walking Dead and Scream: The TV Series. Also, he’s worked as an editor on 23 episodes of The Walking Dead, so he knows how to work horror and suspense.

This movie is the feature film debut for Julius Ramsey and something entirely different. It’s definitely in the thriller genre and one of the best examples in the genre I’ve seen in a while.

The script was written by his brother, Alston Ramsay, and it’s one Hell of a screenwriting debut. Alston Ramsay previously worked as a speechwriter for some real heavy hitters in and around the White House. Including General David Petraeus in Afghanistan.

You definitely do not want to miss this thriller. You’re in for quite a treat!

Midnighters is in Theaters and available On Demand and Digital HD March 2, 2018.

Details

Director: Julius Ramsay
Writer: Alston Ramsay
Cast: Alex Essoe, Perla Haney-Jardine, Dylan McTee, Ward Horton

Plot

Midnight, New Year’s Eve: when all the hopes of new beginnings come to life – except for Lindsey and Jeff Pittman, whose strained marriage faces the ultimate test after they cover up a terrible crime and find themselves entangled in a Hitchcockian web of deceit and madness.