On a raid of our house’s DVD collection for something to watch on a night in we came across Sunshine (2007) and after watching it I just can’t understand why I had never heard of this film before. Surely it would have been hyped up, there would have at least been some trailers floating about? It obviously did but it must have just passed me by and I am glad, however belatedly, to have discovered it.
Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and written by Alex Garland (author of The Beach) it has all the right components to be winning formula. The science fiction film is set in the distant future when it becomes necessary to send a crew on a mission to reignite the dying Sun and save the Earth. However, what the film is primarily interested on is the psychological journey of the crew members as the mission doesn’t quite go to plan.
In order to produce the quality and realism of the acting which was the end result Boyle had the actors both live together and learn about topics related to their roles. For example Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) who plays Robert Capa in the film worked with Brian Cox to learn about advanced physics. Every character plays their part well, leading to an intense and dramatic film, only added to by the stunning special effects.
Frederica Dixon