Sunshine

2007 Directed by Danny Boyle

If the sun dies, so do we.

Fifty years into the future, the sun is dying, and Earth is threatened by arctic temperatures. A team of astronauts is sent to revive the Sun — but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team is sent to finish the mission as mankind’s last hope.

Cillian Murphy Rose Byrne Chris Evans Michelle Yeoh Cliff Curtis Hiroyuki Sanada Troy Garity Benedict Wong Mark Strong Paloma Baeza Archie Macdonald Sylvie Macdonald Chipo Chung

Alternative Titles

Danny Boyle's Sunshine, Проектът: Sunshine, Sunshine - Alerta Solar, 선샤인 2007, Alerta Solar

science fiction thriller

107 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by brat pitt ★★★★ 2

thank you mr alex garland for your miraculous ability to write sci fi films that actually have subtextual dialogue, the perfect amount of exposition, and well-developed characters ☀️
Review by Jay Cheel ★★★★★ 13

Hadn't rewatched this since its initial release in 2007. This movie is amazing. Stunning visuals, great score, awesome cast/performances (Chris Evans rules in this) and a perfect blend of interesting sci-fi concepts with traditional thriller/horror beats (mainly in the third act) which are elevated by Boyle's kinetic visuals, editing, and sound design.
Review by DirkH ★★★ 20

Sunshine is for most of its running time a decent science fiction film that distinguishes itself by creating some amazing visuals. The much talked about final act, which is indeed completely out of tune with the rest of the film, isn't what brings this film down in the end. It is the forced intellectualism that is inserted into the plot that is both unnecessary and poorly done.
Boyle's film looks stunning. I loved the design of the ship and the shots of outer space. I also liked how he handled most of the action and the use of subliminal images to enhance tension was an inspired choice. Boyle has the ability to bring a certain frenetic quality to action sequences…
Review by Ethan Colburn ★★★½

A very entertaining yet imperfect movie.
First of all, this movie had a budget of $30 million and I'm very impressed with what they did with it, particularly the special effects of the exterior of the space craft. It was very well designed and the CGI held up nearly 15 years later.
*MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD*
Space movies tend to be about and feature much darkness, as characters move into deep space, however the concept of traveling to the sun gave this movie a unique tone. The fascination with the sun's light was also interesting and I wish they had explored that a bit more.
This movie also has a stellar cast. I was particularly impressed by Michelle Yoeh and Rose…
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★½ 9

Part Seven of Preparing (As Much As Humanly Possible) For Interstellar
A visually intimate, flawed, thoughtful, brilliant, and occasionally astonishing work; Sunshine is both one of my favorite science-fiction films and my favorite work from Danny Boyle. Combining impressive imagery, a spellbinding screenplay, a magnificent score, and a fascinating spiritual core; the film almost sticks the landing, with the film's main flaw being a chaotic and messy final act.
Telling the story of a crew and their mission to save humanity, Sunshine is a work of hushed moral questions and frightening debate. The themes of science and spirituality culminate in a film that is laden with secondary questions and alternate motives. Although the final 15 minutes or so are messy…
Review by matt lynch ★★★½

I don't entirely disagree with the common complaint that the climax is unnecessarily muddling; who needs a serial killer bad guy when outer space itself is already so hostile? But the villain's Sun God madness is also an example of the competing threads here of pragmatism and spirituality, and there are numerous other instances of the fallible astronauts being simply unable to rationalize or adapt to the inevitable, beautiful, dreadful power confronting them. Typically for Alex Garland these surface ideas in the screenplay don't really resolve, but this is punctuated by enough sublime moments (like the crew huddled together in awe of Mercury as a nickel-sized dot against its star, or Michelle Yeoh's character finding a tiny sprout in the burned-out greenhouse) to maintain a balance between contemplative and exciting. Also I just think tech-heavy space stuff is intrinsically fun.
Review by Sozaka ★★★★★ 9

This film had me so enthralled. I actually felt the sun getting closer and closer and the intensity ratcheting up to unbearable levels. Such atmosphere and emotion. This is one of the few movies that truly cast a spell over me. If I have one gripe it was the horror elements that were introduced felt like they should have existed in an alternate envisioning of the film. But after some thought they did make sense and weaved their way into the story nicely. Not to mention packing quite a punch by themselves. All in all it is a very minor gripe. I hope this movie can be better appreciated as time goes on and seen for the top tier sci-fi gem that it is. wondrous.
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 14

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

In Defense of Sunshine's Third Act
"Capa, warning: you are dying. All crew are dying."
But it's not just Capa and his crew that are dying. We're all dying, the whole human race, and that's absolutely terrifying. Look far enough into the future and you begin to stare into the abyss.
Sunshine gets a lot of criticism for its third act. After two acts of fairly serious science fiction, the film takes an abrupt nose drive into the realm of trashy horror with a man-turned-monster chasing the crew around and killing them. However, while this shift undeniably marks a jarring mismatch in terms of the film's tone, it nonetheless serves as a perfect conclusion for the film's thematic discussion of…
Review by sophie ★★★★ 5

even with his shitty 2000s emo hair, i am still cillian murphy’s bitch
Review by Evan ★★★★½ 7

Well, today is my 3 year anniversary of being a member of this awesome site. As a little celebration I decided to re-watch a film I've been meaning to re-watch for a few months now.
I didn't dislike Sunshine or anything after my first watch. I though it was fine, but nothing special. The wonders a re-watch can do because Sunshine truly is a wonder. From the outstanding visuals to the incredible score there are so many things to love about this movie. In my opinion its easily one of the most underrated Science Fiction films in the last 10 years.
The entire cast is really great. However, the standout for me was Chris Evans. This is definitely my favorite…
Review by Jonathan White ★★★½ 13

Suddenly there seems to be a plethora of Sunshine reviews popping up, and with the coincidence of a bright and shiny Blu arriving in the mail, it seemed to me like a message from the heavens that this should be re-watched.
I have a vague memory of Sunshine from watching it years ago, but not much more than it was a mission to the sun to save humanity. I note that I didn’t rate it, meaning I probably considered it a three-ish star, and I seemed to remember enjoying it.
Right from the top you can tell that Boyle is trying for both an actioner and a hard sci-fi; a lofty goal that few have pulled off successfully; Blade runner…
Review by Grooveman ★★★★★ 7

I'm definitely down with the third act.

Recent reviews

Review by Jolan2 ★★★½

Visualmente buenísima
Review by jworkin ★★★½

Cool flick - a lot of the climax was a little hard to follow
Review by fornax ★★★★

i didn’t expect this to be so fucking terrifying
Review by Hen Bide ★★★½

Watching this high highlighted both what a stupid movie it is and what a cool movie it is. Not Garland's finest hour, but probably Boyle's
Review by Noerdfunk ★★★½

Gelungener Sci-Fictioner, der leider durch den "Twist" etwas an Qualität verliert. Dennoch: ein Must See!
Klare Inspiration für Nolans "Interstellar" - auch wenn man wiederum "Sunshine" vorwerfen kann, sich ab o.g. Plotpoint selbst ausgiebig bei Paul W. S. Anderson's "Event Horizon" zu bedienen. (Alex)
Review by emmsie_ ★★★★½

“Just remember it takes eight minutes for light to travel from the sun to Earth, which means you'll know we've succeeded about eight minutes after we deliver the payload. All you have to do is look out for a little extra brightness in the sky. So if you wake up one morning and it's a particularly beautiful day, you'll know we made it.”
Review by _Lennon_ ★★★★½

I got OCD while watching this
Review by Leah_cath27 ★★★★★

robert fisher? yes. but robert capa? YES IN CAPS LOCK 🥵
Review by Flaxonic ★★★★

I adore this movie, from the characters development, to the story's arc of this Sci-fi masterpiece.
Sure the Third act was a slight letdown but if you know me I love a good horror movie.
This made me slightly unsettled in a good way, so I can't complain.
Review by Isaac Handelman ★★★★ 1

Ay this one's got it all it's got Danny Boyle being himself all over some sweet Alex Garland sci-fi it's even got Mark Strong as a third-act xenomorph it's got everything I tell you
Review by Nicholas Ewers ★★★★

I finally got around to this movie. I completely understand and somewhat agree with the criticisms of this movie, but I liked a lot regardless.
Review by ian_scott ★★★★½

I wish this film got a lot more love throughout the years than it has. It’s honestly one of the best in the genre.
Sunshine is a lot like a lot of other films, but I’d argue that the way it depicts its story is at the same time all too familiar while still being entirely it’s own new thing. Boyle has managed to make a fantastic tale with real tangible stakes and actual (not-cheesy) drama. It’s real refreshing getting to watch this in fact and I wish more folks would give this one another sun-sized chance.

The music is great, the world building is great, the cast is phenomenal. The use of effects works immaculately. There are few films…