Sunshine is a beautiful movie, both visually and emotionally.  The dialogue is great. The stakes are high and the moral questions heavy, and both sides make sense. It’s not exactly a horror movie, but after H³ sat through 28 Days Later with me, he thought I might enjoy another Cillian Murphy/Danny Boyle collaboration. He was right (he usually is).

• Directed By: Danny Boyle
• Written By: Alex Garland
• Staring: Cillian Murphy Rose Byrne. Chris Evans

Why I Like This:

I’m going to try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible; it’s not a new movie, but the less you know about this one the better. Because of that, this post is intentionally going to be a little vague. If it looks like a movie that interests you, go watch it! Then come back here, and we can talk.When faced with rough decisions, the crew behaves in the most logical and educated manner. They use the tools available to them to solve problems while also presenting the audience with the risks and dangers of their situation. Every decision is made with the weight of humanity’s future in the balance.  It’s a weight you can feel in the performances of a stellar (heh heh heh) cast. 

The movie is about a group of astronauts on a mission to restart the sun with a really large bomb. It’s a deep well rounded cast that centers on the physicist Capa, pilot Mace, botanist Corazon, and psychologist Searle. They are actually the second group to try this, the first mission, the Icarus 1, never made it. They are humanity’s last hope. 

The Terror of Light

Once the emergencies start hitting, desperation and panic starts to replace critical thinking. For a movie hyper-focused on realism, there are a few weird issues and inconsistencies with the A.I. and what its directive is. At times, it’s ruthless about its decisions and directives; others, it allows humans to make careless and reckless decisions that are ideal to be prevented by A.I.  It’s one of very few flaws in an otherwise amazing movie. 

We are used to being afraid of darkness, the nothingness and silence that unseen dangers can hide in. In Sunshine there is a new fear in the brilliant and roaring light. As a photophobic, I’m keenly aware of how painful light can be. Maybe that’s why I immediately understood Searle’s dangerous fascination with the sun. To be so close to something so untouchable, powerful, and dangerous.  Entire religions have formed around the sun. It makes sense that even the best and brightest would be trapped by its power, being so close to it. 

Can We Talk About the Photos?

Danny Boyle knows how to make audiences feel deeply uncomfortable. It’s one of the things I like the most. After establishing a visual rhythm in the first half of the movie, Boyle changes things when the crew enters the Icarus I, splicing in quick cuts of crew members in smiling photos.  Once the movie ramps up again, the visuals switch in intensity again, distorting and blurring. 

Characters:

My favorite character is Mace. He’s the kind of character you need on a mission like this. Morally rigid but not wrong, he never takes his eyes off the objective. He’s not polite but he rarely has time to be. The survival of the entire human race is on his shoulders. A lesser movie would have made him the overly militant human antagonist.  Sunshine has other plans.  

This is one of Chris Evans’ best roles. I’ve always thought I liked him best when he was a villain, but this is a far harder job to pull off. His character must carry both the anger and pain of his position and responsibilities without the same shield of logic and science as the others. 

The Third Act

WTF?  I don’t usually get surprised by plot twists, but I was not expecting any of the developments that occurred. I figured when Capa sent his last message that for the crew, this would be a one-way trip. I just didn’t expect the way they would go out. It’s tragic, beautiful, and somehow humbling at the same time.  

I’m not sure if the movie needed the last-minute bad guy.  He brings up a lot of questions that are mostly answered or alluded to.  I understand why he is there; in Sunshine the sun as an all-consuming force is so important, and having a human representative of that highlights its power.  The logistics of the execution is where I am a little uncertain. 

H³ and I had some discussion over what Pinbacker has become. The fact he could survive that long with minimal food and water and exhibits weird gravity effects indicates that he may no longer be human. This is such an interesting development that is not given enough time to breathe. It doesn’t give him any more credibility. How could it?  He was created, or enhanced, by the very thing he now seeks to let die.  But it all happens so quickly, we don’t get much more of his beliefs. He seems the opposite of Searle, who became obsessed with the sun, but wanted to complete the mission. 

Did Sunshine End in the Right Place? 

Hmm. There is a final confrontation that feels visually interesting but less impactful than the moments that came before.   When the bomb goes off and the big moment finally hits, it’s pretty close to what I wanted to see, although I do prefer the scene where he delivers the payload. The soundtrack does a lot to convey the emotional weight of these scenes, and I was fully invested. It feels like some of those scenes, or scores, could have been reversed for better emotional weight.  But what do I know? Danny Boyle makes Oscar-winners, and I just write about them.

Final Thoughts:

I learned this the hard way in real life: don’t name your project “Icarus” and expect it will succeed easily.  If you are looking for light, fluffy sci-fi, this isn’t that. It’s also not hugely scientifically accurate, although it sounds a lot better than most. The final scene in Sunshine is brilliant.

Sunshine is available on streaming.