Review: George Clooney makes a moving ‘The Midnight Sky’

Netflix is on a roll this year, with “Mank,”“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,”“Da 5 Bloods” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” all garnering Oscar buzz. Well, hold onto your spacesuits for the latest — “The Midnight Sky.” George Clooney directs and stars in this feature film adaptation of Lily Brooks-Dalton’s novel “Good Morning, Midnight” and what he has done on both sides of the camera is astounding. With five calm and capable astronauts in the sky and two characters in the Arctic, “The Midnight Sky” touches on themes of regret, parenting, fragility, familial responsibility and the conflict between love and career. It is gentle and deliberate, deeply felt and yet lighter and less cerebral than its distant cousin, “Interstellar.” Clooney has said making “The Midnight Sky” was like shooting “The Revenant” and then shooting “Gravity.” What a coincidence: Both those films also won a bunch of Oscars. “The Midnight Sky,” a Netflix release, is rated PG-13 for “some bloody images and brief strong language.” Running time: 118 minutes.