A "realistic" space movie that discards realism so it can feel more real
Something scary happened during the solar eclipse on April 8
It is the noble job of science teachers to bring the distant cosmos down to Earth, where it can ignite human fascination in more than an abstract way. But the total solar eclipse that will cast its shadow over thousands of miles of North America on Monday needs no help. Along the path of totality, temperatures will drop, wildlife may become confused, and it may get dark enough to see other planets, in a sort of 360-degree sunset.
That's why there's no better time to see Sunshine, the cerebral sci-fi thriller written by Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later). Whether you're on the path to totality or not, you can bring the expansive awe and crushing terror of the cosmos into your living room with a movie that ditches the actual reality of space exploration to get the visceral reality just right.
In terms of plot, Sunshine can be variously described as a silly action movie (the sun is dying, and a team of experts must save the world by driving a nuclear bomb into it), a psychological art film (astronauts at long distances) driven slowly to varying degrees of insanity by the sheer enormity of approaching the sun) and a white-knuckle horror movie (there's one more person on this spaceship than there's supposed to be), all with relative precision.
