Midnight Sun (2018)

Directed by: Scott Speer | 91 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, Quinn Shephard, Ken Tremblett, Suleka Mathew, Jenn Griffin, Nicholas Coombe, Tiera Skovbye, Norm Misura, Austin Obiajunwa, Alex Pangburn, Guy Christie, Paul McGillion

Katie Price is an attractive young woman, getting good grades and getting along well with her single father. She has inherited her talent for music from her late mother, of whom she has only a vague memory: Katie likes to play the guitar and write her own songs. Since elementary school, Katie has had a crush on Charlie, the boy who comes by her house every day with his skateboard. Like so many teenagers, Katie doesn’t dare do anything with that crush. So far, so nothing new under the sun. But Katie has something special… she can’t go out during the day. Not even a second.

Because of a particularly rare disease (XP) she dies from sunlight. When, on the eve of graduating from high school, her father allows her, by way of exception, to perform as an accomplished singer-songwriter at the train station, and she meets Charlie for the first time… Charlie is instant. impressed by Katie, and Katie—little trained in social manners—bumbles a lot in the wrong direction. But Charlie persists, and a lucky twist of fate and a nudge from Katie’s best friend Morgan lead to a second meeting. And another one. And another one.

The feature film ‘Midnight Sun’ is a remake of the Japanese musical drama ‘Taiyô no uta’ (2006) and is especially interesting for young people in the same age category as the protagonists. It fits perfectly into the young adult list with films like ‘The Fault in Our Stars’, ‘Everything Everything’ and ‘Every Day’. This Hollywood production does not manage to add a lot of news, but that in itself is not a problem. The acting is good, Bella Thorne and Patrick Schwarzenegger (who sometimes looks a lot like father Arnold, both facial expression and voice) make a nice couple and father Jack is also portrayed sympathetically and believably by Rob Riggle. Quinn Shephard is the quirky quirky best friend, who then develops an adorable relationship with nerd Garver (Nicholas Coombe).

It’s all just a bit too perfect to be believable: I’m sure Katie and Charlie’s meet-cute would be very different in real life, not to mention the perfect character that Charlie is: how Prince Charming do you want it to be? The scene in which Katie sings her self-penned song in front of an ever-growing group of spectators, just after Charlie puts her on the block, is actually too idiotic for words, because she’s not that fantastic now.

But most likely the majority of viewers will not care: ‘Midnight Sun’ is typically such a film that you will not start if the story does not appeal to you. And for those in doubt: it is definitely an entertaining and sweet film, with a few strong supporting roles and good chemistry between the players. Curious what else is in store for this young cast.