Four Past Midnight

Four Past Midnight is an American Sci-Fi Horror film based on the Stephen King Novella The Langoliers, which was in a collection of four novellas called Four Past Midnight.

It was the first Stephen King movie to be written by Nicholas Matheson, the second being the 2020 Sci-Fi Thriller film 11.22.63 and the third being the 2023 horro film, The Shining.

Synopsis
When a 10 passengers on a flight to Boston wake up and discover that every other passenger, including the pilot, has mysteriously vanished, they find their lives flipped upside down in a race for survival. When one passenger begins hearing voices in his head and making attempts to kill the others, the stakes are lifted even higher.

Plot
In 2018, a teenage blind girl, Dinah Bellman and her Aunt are travelling to Boston by plane to enhance Dinah's sight. Other passengers onboard the flight include: All ten of these passengers fall asleep on the way to Boston.
 * Brian Engle, a pilot who is going to his Ex-Wife's funeral after she died in a fire in Boston.
 * Nick Hopewell, an English Assassin who has been hired to kill someone, although he pretends to be a Lawyer.
 * Craig Toomey, an investment banker who has purposely lost Thirty Three Million Dollars.
 * Laurel Stevenson, a schoolteacher on vacation to meet a man from a singles ad in the newspaper.
 * Robert 'Bob' Jenkins, a mystery writer who is heading home to Boston after a short holiday.
 * Dominic Gaffney, a builder who is going to Boston to meet his new granddaughter.
 * Albert Kaussner, a teenage violinist on his way to a new music school.
 * Bethany Simms, a girl meeting her Aunt so that she can be taken to drug rehab.
 * Rudy Warick, a lawyer who is going to take part in a trial for a murderer.

Dinah awakes later, and she becomes worried when no one answers her when she asks for her Aunt. She is shocked when she picks up a clump of human hair, but it is actually a wig. Brian hears her screaming, and comforts her. At the same time, all the other passengers wake up.

Nick, Bob and Brian find that the cockpit is also empty, and the plane is on autopilot. All the seats of the missing people have watches and clothes on them, and even-as Albert discovers-some metal pins for holding bones together. Brian takes control of the plane while the other passengers introduce themselves.

When Craig awakes he becomes angry and believes that the plane has made an unscheduled stop. He threatens Brian, but Nick knocks him unconscious. Dinah explains to Laurel that she can see what Craig sees, and that to him, everyone looks scarred and monstrous.

Albert and Bethany talk to Bob, who deduces that it was only the passengers that were awake that disappeared, but he has no idea where they went. Albert proposes that it was a secret government experiment, but both Bethany and Bob disagree.

Brian and Nick make attempts to contact the nearest airports, and they get no answers. They also attempt to contact any aircraft that is near them, only to come out with the same result. Brian also does not want to land at Boston, because it is one of the busiest airports in the area, so they change cause and head to Bangor, Maine. When this news is announced over the intercom, Craig erupts into an uncontrollable rage. He is held back by Rudy and Dominic, who calm him down.

The plane makes its way through the cloud layer that is between them and the ground, and they are trapped in a storm. Twice, the plane is almost struck by lightning, and once, the left wing is set on fire, but they make it through, and the fire is put out. It lands at Bangor International Airport, and everyone except Craig rushes out. Dinah immediately realizes something is wrong; there is not a single sound, and their is no wind either.

The group makes it inside, and the entire terminal is empty. When Bethany is lighting a cigarette, Bob gets an idea. They go upstairs, but they do not see Craig sneak inside. Craig has a flashback about the time he got an A- in class, and his father beat him up. His father also told him that 'the Langoliers' would eat him if he failed another test. Craig also has visions of his father encouraging him to get to Boston, no matter the cost. When he hears a noise in the distance, he rushes into the security office and grabs a gun to defend himself.

Upstairs, Bob tries to light a match that was on a table, but it doesn't work. Rudy and Dominic get a sandwich and a beer each, but the sandwich has no taste, and the beer is flat. They are interrupted by Dinah, who can hear the same noise that Craig heard. The noise gets louder, and the whole group can hear it. Nick proposes that they leave.

Craig loads the gun and goes into the terminal, where he spots the group upstairs. Without any warning, he charges in and holds Bethany hostage, with a gun to her head. In an attempt to rescue Bethany, Albert is subsequently shot, but the bullet has no force, and Albert knocks Craig unconscious.

Nick ties Craigs hands together in case he tries to kill them again. Bob deduces that, as they flew through an unusual aurora borealis during the flight, they have flown through a rip in the space-time continuum, traveling about 15 minutes into the past (Four past midnight), where anything with energy has moved on without them, which explains why the food is tasteless and why the gun had no force.

Using Bob's logic, Brian correctly figures out that the matches in the plane worked, so food will have a taste in the plane. Laurel and Dinah remain to guard Craig while the others go to test out Brian's theory. Dinah asks Craig what he meant when he mentioned the Langoliers earlier, and Craig explains that his father said they ate any children that lay down on the job.

Onboard the plane, Brian's theory is confirmed. Bethany tells Laurel and Dinah, and they go to see, not realizing that Craig has escaped and found a kitchen knife. When they do remember, Nick, Dinah, Laurel, Bethany, Albert and Dominic return, only to find the ropes that were used to tie Craig up. Dinah uses her powers to find Craig, but he jumps out and stabs her in the chest, seeing as he has gone insane and thinks that she is a Langolier in disguise. Craig dissapears.

Bob, Rudy and Brian push the fuel truck over to the plane and start fueling it up, until they realize that the noise is even louder than ever. In the distance, some powerlines begin to collapse in the distance.

While Nick, Laurel and Bethany try to get the knife out of Dinah's chest, Dominic and Albert go to get a stretcher to carry Dinah onto the plane. When they do find one, Craig reclaims the gun and uses it to club Dominic to death. Albert hits Craig over the head with a toaster in a bag, apparently killing Craig.

Nick takes the blade out of Dinah, and Albert returns. He explains what happened, but Dinah says that Craig is still alive.

Nick goes down to check, and he is about to finish Craig off, but he remembers that Dinah told him NOT to kill Craig. He obliges this and goes back to help carry Dinah into the plane. Dinah uses her psychic ability to contact Craig, and encourages him to stand up. He goes outside and thinks that he sees the meeting he was meant to be at.

Bethany tells the others to hurry up on fueling the plane, and Dinah is put inside. With refueling almost finished, Rudy points out that the trees in the distance are all falling down.

Craig tells the people at the meeting (Which is a hallucination created by Dinah to distract him) that he deliberately lost money for them, but before he can finish, his Father appears, laughing maniacally. The hills disappear all together, and The Langoliers finally appear as huge balls with teeth. Craig attempts to escape, but they tear him to shreds.

With refuelling finally complete, the plane takes off. Dinah reveals that if Craig hadn't left the terminal, the Langoliers would have eaten them instead. The Langoliers begin to pursue the plane, and Bob explains what they just saw.

When today becomes yesterday, the Langoliers clean up the past by eating everything. The Langoliers finish eating the past, and a whole swarm begins coming after the plane.

Brian and Nick fly the plane towards the time rip, but Nick turns it around at the last minute. He reminds Brian that all the people that were awake disappeared the first time, so all the people will need to be asleep this time. After confessing his true identity to Brian, Nick volunteers to put everyone else to sleep while he flies the plane into the time rip. Brian bids Nick farewell, before explaining what is about to happen to the remaining survivors.

Nick lowers the air pressure, sending everyone to sleep, and as the plane goes through the time rip, he begins to fade away, leaving only his clothes and watch.

The plane re emerges, and in the celebration Bethany kisses Albert. When she is told that they have succeeded, Dinah smiles to herself and wishes Laurel a happy life before dying of blood loss. The group lands the plane at the airport, but they find that it too is empty. Before they can question this, they begin to catch up to the future, and they return to the modern time.
 * Brian eventually remarries, and lives the rest of his life happily with three children.
 * Bethany and Albert get married.
 * Laurel meets the man she was going to Boston for in the first place.
 * Bob writes down the experience in a best selling book.
 * Rudy becomes very rich and an extremely popular lawyer, but he is killed in a car crash two years later.

Quotes

 * "Time? What the fuck do you know about time?"-Craig Toomey
 * "They're coming! The Langoliers are coming, and if we don't get out of here soon, they will kill us all!"-Dinah Bellman

Cast

 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Brian Engle
 * Hugh Jackman as Nick Hopewell
 * Angelina Jolie as Laurel Stevenson
 * Christian Bale as Craig Toomey
 * Sophia Lillis as Dinah Bellman
 * Camren Bicondova as Bethany Simms
 * Robert Deniro as Robert Jenkins
 * Jack Black as Rudy Warwick
 * Asa Butterfield as Albert Kaussner
 * Jamie Foxx as Dominic Gaffney