10 Massively Underrated 2000s Movie Performances

In recent years, sci-fi movies have taken us to all kinds of iconic, impossible, unforgettable places. 2013’s Gravity and 2016’s Passengers are just two examples of the doom-laden, grim and grey spaceship corridors we seem set to explore in the future.

A lot of movie fans (and even genre fans) may never have seen 2007’s Sunshine, an excellent thriller that seems to have undeservedly flown under the radar. Danny Boyle’s harrowing tale is set in the year 2057, depicting the struggle of a noble band of astronauts sent to jump-start the ailing Sun before the planet loses heat. Their plan, to use a gigantic nuclear bomb, is fraught with danger, as is most of the movie’s running time.

As computer errors, mandatory ship repairs and a deranged lost crew member sees the survivors dropping like flies, the mission is eventually completed. Along the way, Rose Byrne’s performance as pilot Cassie shines bright (pun intended). She plays the role evocatively and emotionally, while (like Chris Evan’s James Mace, the ship’s engineer) maintaining a clear and logical outlook that sees her throw the whole traumatic episode. These aren’t easy traits to bring to the table simultaneously, but Byrne knocks it out of the park in this criminally underrated movie.