YMMV / Midnight Special

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • The ending hints that Roy could have similar powers to Alton, as his eyes glow strangely. It would explain why Roy knows how to help control Alton's powers - and it's said by Lucas that his parents abruptly moved them out to the ranch one day. But it's left open, as Roy displays no abilities throughout the movie and the glow at the end could just be from the sun.
  • Another possibility is that Alton might lose his powers if he isn't where he needs to be. Roy might know from experience if he has powers that the option is to either stay with them and be Brought Down to Normal or else rejoin others like him.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Lucas for being a devoted friend to Roy, having reasonable questions but subverting everything you'd expect from an Obvious Judas and being a stone-cold badass too.
• Genius Bonus: The device Roy has on his head at the end is an electroencephalography device, which is used to record electrical activity in the brain. It implies that the government are testing Roy to see if he's like Alton, and that's the same reason they'd want Sarah too.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • This was filmed before The Force Awakens but released afterwards, meaning that everyone suddenly knew Adam Driver as Kylo Ren.
  • Jaeden Martell would go on to play Bill Denbrough in It (2017).
• Spiritual Successor: It's been suggested that the Netflix series Stranger Things acts as one to this. Both are heavily inspired by 80s sci-fi movies and feature empowered children. What's more is that this deals with parents stopping the government from taking their child - while Stranger Things has parents trying to find their children.
• Tear Jerker: Sarah opening her eyes and seeing that the field is now empty, and that her son has gone. The shot lingers on the empty field for a moment, teasing the audience that Alton might reappear. But he doesn't.