MovieChat Forums > Sunshine (2007) Discussion > Is this film religious allegory?

Is this film religious allegory?

posted 9 years ago by jmoconnell
2 replies | jump to latest

First--I love this movie, and I think it works very well as a straightforward sci-fi/horror film. Still, I think there's more at work here...

As soon as I finished watching the film for the first time, I felt strongly that the film was allegorical; specifically, a metaphor for the spectrum of religious fervor. Cappa is the Atheist, Pinbacker is the Zealot, and Searle is in the middle. The Sun stands in for God. Upon repeat viewings, I still hold this interpretation.

In listening to the DVD commentary, it seems that the writer and director disagreed on this question. As a viewer, what do you think?

[–] yurenchu 9 years ago

Yeah, it was a religious allegory, but not in the way you interpreted it. Mace is the Zealot, Searle is the Atheist/non-believer, and Capa is in the middle. And Pinbacker is the personification of Doubt (a.k.a. the Devil; he is more or less the Gatekeeper to the fiery place at the center of the known World...)

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[–] nocakeforyou 9 years ago

Danny Boyle claims that Pinbacker represents fundamentalism, which would make Capa protestant I guess? I don't know.