--- title: "Sunshine: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/sunshine-2007/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/sunshine-2007" critics_score: 63 critics_reviews: 14 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Sunshine (2007): what the critics said Critics' score 63 from 14 reviews: 9 positive, 2 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics like Sunshine, though few love it without qualification. Nine of the fourteen reviews are positive, and the praise clusters around the look of the thing: the ship, the effects, and the way the sun itself becomes a presence the crew cannot stop staring at. Danny Boyle is credited with sustaining real tension, and several reviews place the film alongside the thoughtful science fiction of the 1970s rather than the usual space adventure. Time Out singles out the sound design and score. The reservations are almost unanimous about where they fall: the final act. Review after review describes a film that holds together for two-thirds of its length and then turns into a horror-film chase that undercuts what came before. The spread is wide, from warm to hostile. Variety and Slant go furthest, the latter finding a philosophical blank behind the spectacle, while The Hollywood Reporter stands nearly alone in praising the whole without complaint. ## The Hollywood Reporter Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2007. The critic calls it an extraordinary film operating on visceral, psychological, and spiritual levels during a space voyage with mankind's fate at stake. It praises the gritty realism, fidelity to probable science, adventure, heroics, and old-fashioned thrills while distinguishing it from typical sci-fi epics. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/sunshine-158317/) ## Empire — Olly Richards Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 23 July 2007. The critic finds it a knuckle-gnawingly tense, glorious action thriller that marks another genre nailed by Danny Boyle, with near-faultless visual gloss and shimmery sophistication. They single out the breathtaking production values and Boyle's mastery of white-knuckle cinema for praise, while noting a fumbled, nonsensical finale. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/sunshine-2-review/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 6 April 2007. The critic praises the film's stunning visuals and compelling central idea of a mission to reignite the dying sun, placing it in the tradition of thoughtful 1970s science fiction. He notes some reservations about the final act not fully emerging from the established characters but ultimately calls it a thrilling and sensual spectacle. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/06/actionandadventure.sciencefictionandfantasy) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 4 April 2007. The critic praises Danny Boyle's sci-fi thriller for its eye-popping visuals, eco-conscious screenplay, and striking performances, noting its ambitious tone akin to 2001 rather than conventional genre fare. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/sunshine/4031731.article) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis Rating Critic’s Pick. 20 July 2007. The critic praises Boyle's visually arresting and tingly science-fiction thriller about a mission to save the dying sun, noting its debt to classics like 2001 while highlighting the director's skill at delivering chills and tension. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/movies/20suns.html) ## Time Out — Ben Walters Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2007. While noting thin characterisation and derivative elements, the critic highlights the film's impressive sound design, score, and the captivating, perilous relationship between the crew and the sun, with striking visuals. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/sunshine-3) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 6 April 2007. The critic sees beauty in the film's apocalyptic visuals and a simple message of greater good amid doom and desperation, with exquisite production design and Boyle nailing another genre through sci-fi spectacle meeting intimate drama. They single out the elegant craft and majestic spaceship design for praise, while noting confused purpose and a jarring shift to action in the finale. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/sunshine-review/) ## IndieWire — Michael Koresky Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 17 July 2007. The review is a festival or early critique of the Danny Boyle sci-fi film. Details of the full verdict are limited due to page structure. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-burn-this-danny-boyles-sunshine-74244/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 20 July 2007. The critic finds the sci-fi thriller tense and far from usual space opera, praising its thoughtful elements and character psychology up to the point where it stumbles into conventional plot devices. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jul-20-et-sunshine20-story.html) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 23 July 2007. The review calls the premise nonsense but appreciates the visual grandeur of the space mission before criticizing the later shift into a mad stalk-and-slash exercise that undermines clarity. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/07/30/hot-stuff-3) ## Slant Magazine — Jeremiah Kipp Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 July 2007. The critic notes that despite strong visuals, production design, and cast, the film is a philosophical blank slate that fails to deliver meaningful themes beyond surface spectacle and genre tropes like a smarter Event Horizon. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sunshine/) ## Variety — Derek Elley Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2007. Festival review. The review notes that the high-concept sci-fi initially burns brightly with gripping atmospheric drama and strong technical elements for two-thirds of its length before imploding into a dramatic black hole. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/sunshine-3-1200509213/) ## Eye for Film — Steve Harwood Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 March 2007. Festival review. The critic praises the ambitious premise, stunning visuals and special effects, Boyle's direction, and the philosophical questions raised by the script. It compares favorably to intelligent sci-fi like 2001 and Solaris while adding tension akin to Alien. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/sunshine-film-review-by-steve-harwood) ## Digital Spy — Ben Rawson-Jones Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 3 April 2007. The critic finds Danny Boyle's film a visually and mentally engaging sci-fi drama that prioritizes story, characters and serious themes over Hollywood clichés, with strong performances and inventive direction. A mediocre, Event Horizon-like denouement prevents it from being a masterpiece, but it remains fantastically enjoyable and proves futuristic science fiction can deliver serious drama. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a44720/sunshine/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/sunshine-2007.md