‘Sunshine’ is a Thrilling Space Adventure
Cliff Curtis in Sunshine | Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures
In the year 2057, a group of scientists and astronauts set off to reignite a dying star with a giant bomb. Everything, of course, goes swimmingly.
This film is such a roller coaster ride. It uses the fact that these characters are trapped in their spaceship (Icarus II) with nothing but each other, really effectively. You feel the crampedness of their space, the frayed relationships between the crew that have been together for so long, and the desperation of their situation. If their mission fails, the entire world, all of humanity, is doomed. That’s a lot of weight to put on the shoulders of these individuals, and we feel that in the film.
This isn’t a fun space adventure; there’s a sobriety to their mission that I appreciated. Of course, there are moments of levity in Sunshine, but they are appropriate for the moment that these people find themselves in.
We’ve all seen so many space movies, and there are some really excellent ones out there, like Alien or Gravity, that explore so much about human nature while also being a thrilling film. I would imagine it’s incredibly difficult to create a movie that takes place in space and does something new. Sunshine maintains a great balance between staying within the boundaries set by great films like Alien while bringing something new and creative to the table.
You have staple pieces of a space film, like the obligatory group meal to help us better understand each of these characters. It’s also the place where new dangers are introduced. We also see people running around the ship, the exposed wires and pipes, and the cramped nature of this station. You also have the computer that’s helping to run the ship, which offers varying degrees of help, depending on the film and what it wants to say about the world around us.
Where Sunshine departs from a lot of other films set in space is how beautiful it is. There’s a heavy emphasis on beauty throughout the film, including crew members wanting to look at the sun and feel its warmth and power. We also get to see the outside of the ship, which is covered in a number of different panels that move throughout their mission to help protect the vessel and the crew. We see the panels shifting, taking on new colors as they reflect the sun’s heat. This is such a breath of fresh air, departing from the typical ship design that we’re used to seeing.
This film is filled with plenty of horrifying moments, but it’s also filled with wonder at the natural world, the vastness of space, and the brilliance of human ingenuity.
Cillian Murphy in Sunshine | Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures
I found Sunshine to be a film all about contrasts, which is fascinating. The crew members are barreling toward an impossibly hot star, and we see so many examples of just how damaging this force can be. But that star exists within a deadly cold space, which is also a very real danger for our crew. The film goes back and forth between eerie silence and loud blasts of light to further emphasize the contrasts between the sun and space.
The film also plays with quick cuts between different tones. While this is jarring, it’s not confusing. Instead, it’s a helpful introduction to who these characters are, how they think, and what it might be like to be stuck in a spaceship with all of these different personalities on this difficult mission. The film will go from a peaceful moment with one character, to a confrontation between two other characters, and back to a calm moment with yet another character, all within quick succession. It shows just how complex it must be to coexist with so many people in such a confined space.
Another aspect of Sunshine that I loved is how much of this film is just people talking and trying to figure out the next right step they must take. There are, of course, plenty of dramatic, tense, and even scary things that happen throughout the film. But its real strength, I think, lies in the exploration of morality at the center of the film. There are a few times when characters have to make really difficult decisions—impossible decisions—and have to go with what they think is right given the information they have. And they don’t always have good or even correct information to work with. What do you do in that case? Can you trust your own gut? And can you trust your co-worker’s gut when they make such a consequential decision?
These are fascinating questions that the film plays with throughout its run time. And I loved every minute of those elements. Honestly, I wish that some of those conversations were longer to really explore some of these situations and difficult decisions more thoroughly.
Michelle Yeoh, Cillian Murphy, Benedict Wong, and Rose Byrne in Sunshine | Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures
For me, the first two-thirds of Sunshine are nearly perfect. The writing is excellent, the visuals are still impressive today, and the themes explored are really interesting to think about. I think the film is let down a little bit in the third act when it takes a kind of odd left turn. I was willing to go along with it, but it’s definitely not as strong as the previous two acts. And the final ten minutes had me pretty turned around, even though I got the gist of what the end goal was for the characters.
Most of the movie is absolutely excellent; I wish that the final act had been written a little differently. Still, I had a great time with this film and can’t wait to watch it again. It’s thoughtful, harrowing, and beautiful all in one movie—which is not an easy task.