Forget 'Interstellar,' Cillian Murphy's Underrated Sci-Fi Gem Is a One-Night Must-Watch

Image via Fox Searchlight/Everett Collection Published Nov 14, 2026, 2:53 PM EST Rotten Tomatoes | Letterboxd | Metacritic Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King. Sign in to your Collider account Cillian Murphy has had a long and lucrative relationship with Christopher Nolan, but his best science fiction work is a far cry from fan favorites like Interstellar. Before Coop ever even considered leaving his family behind to save humanity from extinction, Robert Capa (Murphy) was one of eight astronauts tasked with detonating a bomb to reignite the sun. Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Michelle Yeoh are just some of the talented performers who rounded out the cast in the beautifully directed and emotional Sunshine. The Danny Boyle and Alex Garland team-up preceded vehicles like Ex Machina, which examines humanity's plight through a science-fiction lens. As celebrated as Nolan’s movies are, they tend to prioritize spectacle over emotion. Sunshine commits to a tale about life, death, and self-sacrifice. ‘Sunshine’ Examines What the Isolation of Space Costs The plot of Sunshine’s crew journeying into space to save the world isn’t new, but Danny Boyle takes a common thread and weaves a harrowing story full of nuanced characters. The obvious choice would be to tell a story where heroics save the day, but Sunshine is a more honest portrayal of humanity. The somber story shows characters who are complex and sometimes hardened by the world they live in. They are confronted with difficult choices, and there is no easy way out. COLLIDERInteractive Long-range scan active Movies/Science Fiction/Survival Assessment Collider Survival Assessment Which Sci-Fi WorldWould You Survive? 8 questions · 5 worlds · one honest verdict Five of the great screen futures, and not one of them is built for comfort. Answer eight questions about instinct, loyalty and the line you would cross, and the scan will tell you which one you would still be standing in. Worlds in range ▦︎The Matrix ◈︎Mad Max ◑︎Blade Runner ▲︎Dune ✦︎Star Wars Begin the scan Question 01 of 08INSTINCT The world as you know it ends overnight. What is your first move? No wrong answer. There is a wrong hesitation.AFind out what is really going on behind all of it BGrab a vehicle and as much fuel as you can carry CKeep your head down and show up to work anyway DLearn the rules of whoever is in charge now EFind other people and start organizing ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 02 of 08RESOURCE You can stockpile exactly one thing. What is it? Choose carefully. You are not getting a second run.AInformation nobody else has BFuel CClean money and cleaner documents DWater EA ship that can get you off-world ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 03 of 08THREAT Which kind of enemy scares you the most? Be honest about what keeps you up.AOne that can be anywhere, wearing anyone's face BA convoy of people who want what you are carrying CSomeone who looks exactly like you DA rival family that has been planning your downfall for generations EAn empire with unlimited resources and no patience ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 04 of 08AUTHORITY How do you handle the people in charge? Every world has them. Even the ones that pretend otherwise.AAssume they are lying and work around them BNobody is in charge where I am CFollow the orders, file the report, stay invisible DStudy them, get close to them, outlast them EJoin whoever is fighting them ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 05 of 08ENVIRONMENT Pick the place you would rather wake up in: You will be there a while.AA grey city that feels slightly too perfect BAn endless desert highway CA rainy neon street at three in the morning DA dune sea with a fortress on the horizon EA crowded spaceport full of strangers ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 06 of 08ALLIANCE Who do you want standing next to you? Pick one. You only get one.AA guide who knows far more than they are telling you BOne person you trust and nobody else CNobody. You work alone DA loyal circle you grew up with EA crew of misfits who argue the whole way ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 07 of 08MORALITY Which line would you cross to survive? Everybody crosses one.ALying to the people closest to you BTaking what you need by force CLooking the other way DPlaying a long game that costs other people dearly EBlowing something very expensive up ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Next Question 08 of 08PURPOSE What are you really fighting for? Last question. Make it count.AThe truth, whatever it turns out to be BTomorrow. Just tomorrow CSomething that finally feels like a real life DYour family's name EEveryone who cannot fight for themselves ← Back Keys 1 to 5 or A to E · Enter to advance Run the scan Scan completeYou would survive ▦︎ The Matrix The Resistance, Zion You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. You would survive The Matrix because you were never fully sold on the version of reality you were handed. You notice the seams. You ask the second question. In a world built to keep people comfortable and incurious, that instinct is the whole fight, and it is why Morpheus would have found you long before you found him. From the Collider file The Wachowskis' 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film Editing. Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the actors. Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot, recovering from neck surgery the whole time. It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the world in front of you. Red pill energy Pattern spotter Built to question ◈︎ Mad Max The Wasteland Oh, what a day. What a lovely day. You would survive the Wasteland because you do not waste energy mourning the world that ended. You move, you improvise, and you are very good with whatever is bolted to the thing in front of you. Furiosa would let you drive. That is not a compliment anybody earns easily. From the Collider file Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year. George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a script. The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and real stunt performers. Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024. Keeps moving Improviser Good with engines ◑︎ Blade Runner Los Angeles, 2049 All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. You would survive 2049 because you know how to be small in a very loud city. You keep your head down, you do the job, and you hold onto one private thing that belongs only to you. That quiet stubbornness is exactly what both Deckard and K run on, and it is what keeps either of them going when the case stops making sense. From the Collider file Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth nomination. The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott's 1982 original. Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever he could. Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the two movies. Keeps her head down Private Noir soul ▲︎ Dune Arrakis Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. You would survive Arrakis because you think in decades while everyone around you thinks in weeks. You read the room, you learn the customs, you wait. The desert does not reward speed. It rewards people who understand that patience is a weapon, which is the one lesson the Fremen never had to be taught. From the Collider file Denis Villeneuve's Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and Original Score. Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan's Tenet so he could score Dune instead. Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher Walken. David Lynch's 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky's unmade one are both their own legends by now. Plays the long game Reads the room Patient ✦︎ Star Wars A Galaxy Far, Far Away Rebellions are built on hope. You would survive the galaxy because you never try to survive it alone. You collect people. You end up in the middle of other folks' problems and you stay anyway. Every version of this story, from the Falcon's crew to the Ghost's, runs on somebody exactly like that holding the group together. From the Collider file The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects. John Williams' score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever. Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both seasons. The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+. Collects people Shows up Hope merchant Compatibility readout · top three 1 2 3 ↻ Retake the quiz Copied to your clipboard Scan filed byCOLLIDERCollider.com · The Sci-Fi Desk The crew of Icarus II takes on the burden of saving Earth from a frigid and bitter death, planning to fly a bomb into the sun. This is a mission steeped in regret, as Icarus I failed to accomplish this mission seven years earlier. While on their journey, they discover a transmission from the Icarus I and deviate from their course to intercept it. This causes a cataclysm of events that puts them on a trajectory to doom. Sunshine is so much more than its thrilling premise, however. Boyle’s hard sci-fi drama is less about the spectacle and more about the toll that these decisions take on the characters. Their isolation and anxieties dominate the film as Capa dreams of falling onto the surface of the sun. At the same time, the psychological officer, Searle (Cliff Curtis), becomes consumed by his own neuroses. The cabin fever that the characters feel is already represented when the movie opens. Capa and Mace (Chris Evans) come to blows after the former spends too long recording a message home. The tension only increases when Capa has to make the decision to deviate from their main mission to answer the distress signal. Evans is arguably the most underrated performer in the movie, as his character could be read as callous and cold. Mace has no qualms about ignoring the distress signal, but at his heart, his main concern is saving humanity. It is why later, when three of the astronauts are stranded with only one suit, Mace insists that Capa take it. As the physicist on board, Capa gets the highest priority since he is the only one who can operate the payload. This self-sacrifice colors the entire narrative and is the reason that Icarus II is successful in the end. Boyle’s strengths as a director also come through in one of the most artistic sci-fi movies put on screen. ‘Sunshine’ Tells an Unforgettable Visual Story Danny Boyle broke out with emotional stories such as 28 Days Later, but when he was given a larger budget, he didn’t disappoint. This is where the director could compete with the likes of Christopher Nolan, even when the huge concepts weren’t present. Sunshine maintains a visual dialogue that is mesmerizing to watch as the cinematography communicates a story when words fail. The characters’ obsession with looking at the sun is not just beautiful to look at, but tells a deeper narrative. Sunshine considers huge themes such as God, self-sacrifice, and humanity. Soon it becomes clear that the astronauts are willing to do anything to accomplish their mission, even die. These deaths are heavily foreshadowed in visuals that follow them throughout the story. Mace’s early interaction with the coolant tank and the care he takes over the mainframe is his undoing, but it also saves the ship. One of his early scenes shows him fixing the mainframe, which is where his character eventually expires at the end of the movie. The biologist Corazon (Michelle Yeoh) is disheartened when the oxygen garden gets inflamed, the very place where she is murdered. Capa’s ending is the most emotional of the film as he accepts his fate to allow the ship to detonate into the sun. This is a moment that comes full circle after his constant dreams about being on the surface of the sun. Sunshine is a movie that trusts the audience to get there with no hand-holding necessary. Though it didn't impress at the box office, it is a shining gem in the crown of Boyle’s filmography. Release Date April 5, 2007 Runtime 107 minutes Director Danny Boyle Writers Alex Garland Producers Andrew Macdonald