Bella Ramsey leads the cast of 'Sunny Dancer', a coming-of-age film set at a summer camp for teenagers with cancer. Directed by 25-year-old actor-turned-filmmaker George Jaques, the movie premiered at the Berlin film festival. While occasionally overly euphoric in its positivity, the film is big-hearted and well-acted, featuring an amusing star cameo and a clever misdirection twist for those expecting a tragic-sacrificial character.
The story follows Ivy (Ramsey), a 17-year-old in remission from cancer who is angry and resentful. Her parents Karen (Jessica Gunning) and Bob (James Norton) sign her up for a therapeutic 'chemo camp' against her wishes. Despite her fury, Ivy attends and is initially unimpressed by the camp's upbeat leader Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris). However, she gradually bonds with fellow campers: Ella (Ruby Stokes), who is determined to lose her virginity to activities director Ralph (Earl Cave); tarot-obsessed Maisie (Jasmine Elcock); shy Archie (Conrad Khan); and fragile Jake (Daniel Quinn-Toye), with whom Ivy forms a special connection.
The film has a 'Heartstopper' energy and a strongly LGBTQ+ cast, though heterosexuality is dominant, as if the centrality of cancer leaves no room for additional identities. 'Sunny Dancer' shares structural similarities with films about Christian gay conversion practices, such as 'But I'm a Cheerleader' and 'The Miseducation of Cameron Post'. However, it upends those tropes with a positive, uncynical outlook, replacing prayer with therapy and education. Despite its generic debts, the film has buoyancy and sunshine.
