George Clooney's The Midnight Sky is filled with stunning images of outer space, intense
scenes of survival against the elements, and many statements about the human condition.
The movie follows two sets of characters amid their perilous and isolated journeys.
And while they might be separated by a great distance, Clooney's Augustine and Felicity
Jones' Sully have a lot more in common than either of them knows.
As their stories become intertwined throughout the movie, there are a lot of subtle details
that you may have missed.
Beware, spoilers ahead!
In the beginning of The Midnight Sky, after Augustine has been voluntarily left behind
by the evacuating researchers, he proceeds to clean out the belongings of those who left
and throws away a small statue of a wolf.
If you read the book on which the film is based, Lily Brooks-Dalton's Good Morning,
Midnight, you might recognize the significance of that figurine as it's something of a nod
to a key scene from the book.
In the novel, Augustine has several memorable encounters with arctic animals, including
one in which a white wolf approaches Iris.
Augustine kills the animal to protect Iris, but she's actually very upset by this.
That's because she read a field guide that indicates arctic wolves may not be aggressive
to humans since they don't fear them.
In a later scene from The Midnight Sky, Iris can be seen cuddling a stuffed dog, which
is another nod to her compassion for the wolf.
Another wink to Brooks-Dalton's book is also contained in the early scenes of The Midnight
Sky, as Augustine sits in front of an abandoned chess game that he can't play.
This image serves to highlight Augustine's boredom and loneliness in the remote research
facility.
But in the book, the game has additional significance.
In the novel, Augustine makes a point of teaching chess to Iris after they successfully travel
to the other location with the satellite that can make contact with the Aether.
Considering it's at this location that Augustine eventually communicates with Sully - who is
the actual, grown-up version of Iris - to offer her some guidance for the next move
she and the rest of the Aether crew will make, the game-instruction is something of a metaphor
for their connection.
Kyle Chandler's character Mitchell is also very similar to a central book character named
Ivanov, who also leaves behind a beloved family with young children to join the K-23 mission.
In the movie, Mitchell turns to a room with a holographic memory of his own kitchen to
mimic spending time with his wife and sons.
But there's also another, more subtle way that he honors his family that only fans of
the book will recognize.
In an early scene from the Aether, Mitchell can be seen playing an intense video game
that features him fighting with jungle creatures.
Not only does it provide exercise and entertainment, but the act of playing the game is also something
of a tribute to his sons.
In the book, Ivanov similarly spends a lot of time playing video games, and we eventually
learn that it's something he decided to do to keep up a friendly competition with his
children so that they could all feel close, even when they were so far apart.
One of the major themes explored in both Good Morning, Midnight and The Midnight Sky is
how much regret Augustine has over his choices in life.
A key flashback sequence reveals how he treated Jean and hints at Augustine's long-standing
emotional isolation.
When she visits him, he brushes her off and seems callously unmoved by her obvious sadness
over his refusal to open up to her.
"But, you know, I'm sure it's for the best."
That alone is a well-placed detail from the book, but there's a tiny nod to her family's
future contained in another flashback scene.
When young Augustine spots Jean and her daughter visiting the observatory he works at, a close-up
image of her profile shows that she's wearing an earring with three tiny dots.
That symbol is extremely similar to the emblem on the K-23 mission badges that can be seen
on the Aether crew's uniforms.
Since we later learn that Sully is actually Iris, the now-grown daughter of Augustine
and Jean, and Jean's earrings are spotted in the scene when Augustine first sees her
as a little girl, the jewelry can be perceived as a very subtle hint at the future to come
for Iris and her troubled little family.
Another tiny hint at Augustine's connection to Sully can be found in the very same flashback
scene.
The only detail we can clearly make out on Jean's daughter is her shoes, and they're
remarkably similar to the ones worn by Iris when Augustine discovers her hiding in the
observatory kitchen.
It's not until much later in the movie that we get to see Jean's daughter in full as she
drives away, confirming that the little girl from that moment is indeed Iris, and Augustine
has merely imagined spending his final days protecting her in the Arctic research centers.
Another clue about Sully's true identity occurs aboard the Aether, after Sully has her ultrasound.
"Do you want to know if it's a girl or a boy?"
"Absolutely not."
Although Sully doesn't want to know the sex of her child, word quickly gets out around
the ship that she's going to have a daughter.
After that, the crew members begin to share some name suggestions, one of which comes
from Mitchell.
"Hyacinth."
"What?"
"It was my mother's name.
It's a flower."
The suggestion becomes something of a running joke for Sully and the crew, but the suggestion
is also a nod to Sully's own name - Iris.
Perhaps the biggest clue that Augustine is conjuring Iris comes just before the most
chilling scene of the film.
As the two make their difficult journey to the satellite station, they take refuge in
an empty outpost trailer and Augustine talks about his past, including Jean and their daughter.
That's when Iris says the one and only thing we hear her say.
"Did you love her?"
Not only does the timing of this rude awakening indicate that he only dreamed the sound of
her voice - which he has probably never actually heard - but the fact that she's later shown
completely unfazed by the blistering cold while he's very clearly freezing to death
also hints that she's just a figment of his imagination and memories.
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