Here's the thing: Midnight Special is a well-crafted, thoughtful sci-fi film that critics appreciated for its restraint and atmosphere. But it's also kind of a slog.

The father-son relationship is genuinely moving, and there's something powerful about a parent willing to lose everything for their child. Jeff Nichols makes smart, serious films. But this is slow, tense, and deliberately ambiguous in a way that will either fascinate or frustrate your kid—probably the latter.

The 16-point gap between critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes? That's your warning. This isn't fun sci-fi. It's brooding, anxious, chase-movie sci-fi where a kid with glowing eyes is pursued by both a religious cult and the government for two hours. If your teen loves Stranger Things, they might appreciate this—but they also might wonder why nothing is really happening.

It's enriching in the way that art-house films are enriching: you'll talk about it after. But will your kid want to watch it in the first place? That's the real question.