The Midnight Sky (soundtrack)
Score for George Clooney's 2020 Netflix film.
The Midnight Sky (Music from the Netflix Film) is the soundtrack to the 2020 film directed by George Clooney, featuring music by Alexandre Desplat. The album contains 26 tracks from the score, running over 90 minutes, and was released on December 11, 2020 by ABKCO Records. The score received generally positive reviews and won a Saturn Award for Best Music, along with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Alexandre Desplat
- Released
- December 11, 2020
- Studio
- Abbey Road Studios, London
- Genre
- Film score
- Length
- 86:48
- Label
- ABKCO
Facts from the source article.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Midnight Sky | 3:31 |
| 2 | Aether Spaceship | 3:33 |
| 3 | Mission | 4:24 |
| 4 | Sullivan's Nightmare | 2:09 |
| 5 | Iris In The Stars | 4:32 |
| 6 | Augustine's Redemption | 2:54 |
| 7 | Evacuation | 2:48 |
| 8 | Wolves Attack | 2:06 |
| 9 | Families & Friends | 2:32 |
| 10 | In The Milky Way | 2:55 |
| 11 | A Child | 1:57 |
| 12 | Peas Battle | 3:22 |
| 13 | First Alert | 3:54 |
| 14 | Dead Birds | 1:10 |
| 15 | Crashed Plane | 5:22 |
| 16 | The Ice Breaks | 3:09 |
| 17 | Visual On Earth | 3:00 |
| 18 | Survivors | 3:11 |
| 19 | Is There Hope? | 7:43 |
| 20 | Changing Route | 3:55 |
| 21 | Asteroids Rain | 2:08 |
| 22 | Blood Drops | 5:33 |
| 23 | Mourning | 4:00 |
| 24 | There Is Nowhere | 2:13 |
| 25 | A Ride Home | 1:44 |
| 26 | A New Life Ahead | 3:03 |
| Total length | 86:48 | |
Track listing from the source article.
Development
This score marks Alexandre Desplat’s fourth time composing for a George Clooney-directed film, after The Ides of March, The Monuments Men, and Suburbicon. Clooney told Variety that music functions as a character because large stretches of the movie have no dialogue; he wanted the film to feel like a meditation, with the score carrying the emotional weight throughout. Desplat saw the movie as an onscreen ballet or concert, since the characters speak little and the visuals drive the narrative.
The music had to convey each character’s feelings—Augustine’s illness, the mute little girl, and the spaceship crew—while balancing intimate moments with the story’s vast scope, a difficult task. He aimed for something gentle and contemplative, yet also a tragedy about death, portraying Earth’s end as an internal story of regret, suffering, and humanity’s future seen through ordinary people. Desplat built two main themes: a delicate piano motif linking the girl and Augustine, and a separate theme for survival and hope.
Clooney initially planned no specific music for the space sequences, but reversed course because the scenes felt too bare. For the astronauts’ first spacewalk, he insisted on very quiet, very slow strings that feel suspended and motionless, creating a kind of silence without being silent. He said the biggest challenge was balancing human warmth, solidarity, and friendship with a constant sense of danger, both on Earth and in space, where nothing feels safe.
Reception
Simran Hans of The Guardian complimented that Desplat's score sets a tone of wonder, optimism, and cosmic significance, comparing it to his score for Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that if the rich orchestral score often leans too hard on heart-tugging sentiment, its surging power in dramatic moments is undeniable. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com commented the score as aggressive. Music critic Jonathan Broxton wrote that The Midnight Sky is not a happy film and therefore not a happy score, with Desplat scoring from the bleakest possible place, combining orchestral and electronic textures in a way that is beautiful but tinged with bitterness, regret, and desperation, though the contemplative nature and the way it seeks to overcome obstacles is enormously appealing.
Anton Smit of Soundtrack World wrote that while the album contains some parts not pleasant to listen to, there are other parts very enjoyable, especially when the two themes stand out. James Southall of Movie Wave wrote that large parts of The Midnight Sky are prime Desplat and among the film music highlights of the year, especially the more ethereal sections, but that the album trimmed by half an hour would receive his highest recommendation. Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair felt the score sounds like a children's fable or resembles Alan Silvestri's main theme from Contact.
Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that the score blankets the action in a mournful grandeur. Don Kaye of Den of Geek commented the score as lovely but occasionally overbearing, while Polygon's Robert Daniels also admitted the score to be overbearing.
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