Sunshine

Plot

In 2056, the sun is dying and the Earth is freezing. A crew of eight pilot a colossal nuclear bomb aboard the spaceship Icarus II, with the intent to jump start the sun, and return to Earth. As they slingshot past Mercury, Icarus II discovers the distress beacon of Icarus I, the first ship to attempt a similar mission, which disappeared seven years earlier. Reasoning that two bombs have a better chance of success than one, physicist Capa recommends Captain Kaneda change course and commandeer Icarus I. Mace, the ship's engineer, opposes the deviation as risky. Navigator Trey calculates and implements a trajectory to intercept Icarus I, but forgets to realign the shields that protect the ship from the sun, causing damage to four shield panels.

Kaneda and Capa embark on a spacewalk to make repairs, assisted by pilot Cassie, who angles the damaged portion of the shield away from the sun. As expected, this allows the sun to destroy the protruding communications tower; however, reflected light also destroys the ship's oxygen garden and oxygen reserves. As Icarus II's autopilot returns the shield to its original alignment, Kaneda orders Capa to safety, and Kaneda repairs the last panel, moments before he's immolated. Trey blames himself for the loss of Kaneda, and psychiatrist Searle assesses him as a suicide risk, sedating him.

Icarus II docks with Icarus I. Capa, Searle, Mace, and former communications officer now-Captain Harvey search the vessel, leaving Cassie and botanist Corazon on board Icarus II. They discover Icarus I's mainframe has been sabotaged, making its bomb delivery impossible. In the ship's log is a rambling message from Captain Pinbacker, who abandoned his mission. The crew of Icarus I is found charred to death in the solar observation room, where they were long ago exposed to the unshielded sun. Suddenly, the two ships explosively decouple, destroying Icarus I's outer airlock, stranding the four crew members on it. Mace suggests one crew member stay behind to manually operate the airlock while the other three jettison between airlocks, using the vacuum release for propulsion. Searle volunteers to stay behind. Capa is sealed in the only space suit, while Harvey and Mace wrap themselves in salvaged insulation material. Searle releases the airlock and the three crew members rocket into space. Harvey misses the airlock and freezes to death, while Capa and Mace make it back to Icarus II. Searle, having spent the mission obsessed with looking into the shielded sun, voluntarily exposes himself to its full, deadly force in the observation room.

Corazon calculates that there is enough oxygen left for four of the five survivors to reach the sun. After a contentious vote, Mace decides to kill Trey, but discovers Trey has already committed suicide. With the remaining crew somewhat relieved that they will now at least make the trip to the sun, Capa is informed by Icarus that there is still not enough oxygen to complete the mission, because an unknown fifth person is on board the ship. When Capa investigates, he discovers an insane and disfigured Pinbacker. Pinbacker attacks and wounds Capa and locks him in an airlock. He then kills Corazon and removes the mainframe from its coolant bath, shutting down the computer. He then pursues Cassie.

Mace attempts to manually lower the computer back into the freezing coolant, but when his leg catches on the descending computer he becomes trapped, and the computer is disabled. As he freezes to death, he radios Capa to escape the airlock, decouple the bomb from the ship, and activate it as it plummets into the sun, delivering the payload to its destination. Capa blows the airlock, separates the bomb from the ship, which explodes, and enters the payload, where he finds Cassie. Pinbacker ambushes them, telling them God ordered him to send all humanity to Heaven. As they hurtle into the sun, Capa escapes Pinbacker, reaching the bomb controls. Unsure if it will work under these extreme conditions, he watches as the bomb begins to successfully ignite at the edge of the sun itself.

Back on the frozen Sydney Harbour, Capa's sister witnesses the sun returning to its full power.