I had high hopes for this film. It is not often that you get an indie sci-fi flick that looks this good.
It started off strong. The film is gorgeous. It is obvious that someone spent a lot of money crafting the scenes. The dialog is also excellent, even if the basic plot line is typical. It is the archetypal "crew isolated in space" story. Early on there they through in a twist though. The crew psych officer says that unlike absolute darkness, absolute lightness is overwhelming fullness. I thought it could be an interesting twist.
While the plot follows along a well worn path - the crew alters path to find an abandoned ship, things break terribly, the crew realizes that they are never going to be able to return home - the level of dialog and the beauty of the film makes it above average.
Sadly, when they find the abandoned ship, the whole plot goes the shit. What was once a smart, considerate character study turns into a standard sci-fi slasher flick. It did the beginning of the movie a huge disservice.
With the sad ending, Sunshine is an unfulfilled promise.
