Sunny Dancer: A devastatingly beautiful coming-of-age story

George Jaques new indie film Sunny Dancer follows a young teenager, Ivy (Bella Ramsey), who has been in remission for 10 months following a battle with cancer. The film is full of heartwarming teenage moments but also the explores the harsh realities of a teenager’s struggle with cancer.

The film opens with Ivy’s parents worried she is closing herself off from everyone in her life, so they suggest a summer camp, CRF, to help her feel like she belongs. Reluctantly, Ivy agrees to to attend CRF, but that is truly the beginning of this story.

The classic song ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’ by Scissor Sisters … serves as a soundtrack for the teenagers to forget their worries and live life to the fullest

The family’s chemistry is undeniable, with Jessica Gunning and James Norton playing Ivy’s parents, and talent is most definitely rife throughout this cast. There are many joyful family moments here, including their bonding over the classic song ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’ by Scissor Sisters, a song that becomes central to this film. It serves as a soundtrack for the teenagers to forget their worries and live life to the fullest.

George Jaques is impressive in the way he handles the subject of a teenager with cancer. Instead of using typical coming-of-age tropes, Sunny Dancer is full of dark humour. Each character we see in Ivy’s friendship group is different, they have different personalities, yet they are all united by their experience with cancer. A particularly amusing dynamic in this film is the relationship between Ivy and her roommate Ella (Ruby Stokes) as they are complete opposites of each other. Throughout the film we see their relationship develop, which is one of the many beautiful moments in this film. Similarly, Ivy’s romantic relationship with Jake (Daniel Quinn-Toye) reflects the true beauty of youthful relationships and demonstrates how cancer does not stop them from building a meaningful connection.

Bella Ramsey gives an undeniably impressive performance, bringing many layers to this resistant teenager

Bella Ramsey gives an undeniably impressive performance, bringing many layers to this resistant teenager. They tackle both the humour and the trauma with such grace, and I believe their scenes at the end of the film are particularly impressive. George Jaques does not shy away from truly delving into the lives of these characters. We see Ivy experiencing survival guilt, whilst many of the other characters have constant health anxiety and fatigue from what they have gone through at a young age.

As well as this, we see several celebrity cameos including James Blunt and Neil Patrick Harris, who plays the camp officer, Patrick, and is integral to the story and its meaning. While Ivy resists Patrick and the camp in general towards the beginning, we see her start to realise that the camp gives the teenagers “a shot at truly living”.

These teenagers are able to live a life which is not defined by what they cannot do … having cancer is the least interesting thing about these characters

Without giving too much away, Sunny Dancer has an unexpected ending, and while some may critique its abruptness, I believe it helps build and strengthen the true message of the film: cancer is unpredictable. This illness has affected many teenagers’ lives, and while this film allows us to truly open our eyes and get a genuine insight. What is most important about this film, is that these teenagers are able to live a life which is not defined by what they cannot do. As George Jaques himself stated, he wanted to show that having cancer is the least interesting thing about these characters.

Sunny Dancer is a devastatingly beautiful coming-of-age movie that deserves more praise than it has received. This film will leave you feeling both joyful and emotionally wrecked, but most importantly, it will leave you reflecting on these teenage characters and the beautiful story they have told.

★★★★ ½