Penned by novelist and screenwriter Alex Garland, Sunshine isn't the most cohesive movie on this list; helmed by Danny Boyle, who also adapted Garland's novel The Beach for the big screen and collaborated with him on horror flick 28 Days Later, Sunshine takes place some time in the near future, at a point where our sun is on the verge of dying. Tasked with re-igniting the star with a "pay load" are the crew of the Icarus II, one of whom is bomb designer Robert Capa (Cillian Murphy). As the crew steer towards their destination, though, things go terribly wrong when - in true Alien style - they pick up a distress beacon emitting from aboard the ill-fated Icarus I. Boyle directs the movie beautifully, taking his cues from classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Garland manages to craft dense, memorable characters that defy the kinds of stereotypes that often plague movies of this sort. Though the idea might feel somewhat overwrought at times, Sunshine manages - for the most part - to make the premise believable, rendering this is as smart sci-fi that isn't afraid to embrace itself as a genre movie. Its biggest problem comes in the third act, where logic is replaced for what feels like careless ambiguity for lack of better to do; still, the first two acts are mesmerising enough to mark this as essential sci-fi viewing.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
