Originally published June 2, 2023

Four years ago, I said that I wanted to watch all of Cillian Murphy’s filmography, but I completely forgot about this desire after one month. However, his new movie Oppenheimer is coming out in July, so now is the perfect time to get this done!

Firsr, let me explain why I am *obsessed* with this particular Irish actor. The video below does a great job of showcasing his intellect, kindness, and soft-spoken manner. I can’t prove that this is his real personality instead of just a fake public persona, but either way he’s an appealing man. Not to mention the piercing blue eyes and sharp cheekbones… He’s very reminiscient of Hozier in many ways – both Irish and artstic, with shy and kind personas. I can’t tell if I want Cillian Murphy to adopt me or kiss me, but I’d at least love to have a coffee with him and talk about movies and books.

I think I’ve stated my case for the fascination enough, and now I can get to the actual review. I’ve already written about In Time and Inception – Mr. Murphy stole the show in the first and was woefully underused in the second. I picked Sunshine next because it stars both Cillian Murphy and a pre-MCU Chris Evans. The best way to summarize this movie is as an early take on the same premise as 2016’s Passengers, with more “horror” overtones than “sci-fi”. A bunch of people are on a spaceship in order to launch a bomb into the sun, create a mini “big bang”, and end the “solar winter” that’s been plaguing the earth. The overall tone uis a combination of Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, so this is not a good choice when viewers need to be cheered up.

The problem with this movie, as with In Time. is that I can point out exactly what the story’s problems are, but I’m not yet creative or skilled enough to think of solutions.

Characters

Cillian Murphy plays Capa, the lead physicist on the Icarus II spaceship (I am embarrassed to admit it took me two days to get the symbolism of naming both spaceships Icarus). Capa is dedicated to completing the (underexplained) mission and saving “humanity at large”, at the expense of tbe humans around him. In the video above, Cillian said “I’m interested in duality, I’m interested in contradiction, I’m interested in light and shade.” This awareness and nuance is what makes him a great actor in this role and others, on the level of DiCaprio if I may be so bold. This nuance is also probably why Capa reminds me of Victor Frankenstein – the intersection of nobility and hubtis is fascinating.

Chris Evans plays Mace, who displays more kindness towards his crew members but isn’t above a logically sound execution. Mace and Capa’s different means to the same end give them wonderful opportunities for animosity, and their engaging tension carries a majority of the movie. Without too many spoilers, their simmering stress reaches a somewhat expected boiling point, but Mace unexpectedly redeems himself.

Two “side characters” that stand out are Benedict Wong (another future MCU player) as Trey, and Troy Garity (Jane Fonda’s son) as Harvey. Harvey has too much ego, and Trey has basically no self-worth. The two don’t directly interact much, but their indirectly contrasting choices add emotional depth to the film.

Finally, Rose Byrne and Michelle Yeoh add more depth as the two feminine anchors of the story. Both are calmer than all of the men, offering.. not comic relief, but a break in the tension.

Aesthetic

Like I mentioned earlier, this is essentially a horror movie with less blood and no demons. I guess the proper genre classification is “thriller”. The taut subtleness of every scene pushed me to the edge of my seat, even in simple quiet dialogue. The sterile simplicity of the spaceship makes it look almost like a stereotypical “psych ward” at times – I’m guessing this was a deliberate set design choice.

One problem is the “visual glitches”. About halfway through the movie, viewers might assume their screen is glitchy, as photos begin to flash on the screen for a second at a time. This is meant to add to the suspense and create almost supernatural tension, but these photo flashes are completely unexplained, so potential is wasted. Along this line, the camera work becomes erratic at times, to show the warping of space and time as the craft moves closer to the sun. This is an intriguing cinematography choice and I like it, but it could have been used more throughout the film in my opinion.

Pacing

The pacing is the movie’s greatest weakness. Throughout the film, plenty of important and heavy emotional themes are discussed – the importance of a human life, the existence of a higher power, the mental toll of isolation – but I don’t think any of these themes are appropriately fleshed out or discussed, particularly the metaphysical and spirtual themes.

Like Passengers, this movie makes the same mistake of a third-act shift from cerebral tension to mindless action. It’s actually worse in this movie because the “surprise third-act villain” is a huge lesson in wasted character potential. Like Murphy’s In Time character Raymond Leon, I would have liked to see another full movie on the backstory of this underdevloped character.

Conclusion

This movie has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 76%, which I think is accurate and fair. I’d give it 7/10 for commendable acting, introduction of interesting themes, and good aesthetics. Three points deducted for the aforementioned underdevelopment.

This is an “art house movie”- it might not appeal to the masses, but it would appeal to fans of these specific actors, and fans of cerebral, metaphysical films. That’s all from me for now, and I’ll see you on the flip side!