Is "at the middle" ever correct?

Question

A sentence from a Wikipedia page reads:

At the middle of the film, Scorsese turned to Bauer and told him, "You guys are great – but be prepared, because they're going to hate it in Hollywood... because it's about them."

I thought it should be in the middle of the film. Several online posts also suggest that the preposition used with the middle should be in not at. Is it a mistake in the sentence at issue?

Answer 1

In the middle is much more common:

"At the middle" might be fine, especially if you are making a direct comparison to something that happens at the end, or at the beginning of the film.

Personally, I would have written "in the middle", as I think it sounds more natural.