‘Sunny Dancer’ review: Sunshine at cancer camp

Bella Ramsey turns in a winning performance in the heartfelt teen dramedy Sunny Dancer.

Sunny Dancer‘s premise has heartbreak built into it. Following a group of teens who meet at a camp for childhood cancer patients, George Jaques’ moving drama is grounded without losing sight of its devastating stakes or its heroine’s refusal to be defined on anything but her own terms.

Ivy (Bella Ramsey) has spent her teenage years being defined by her cancer diagnosis. Even though she’s in remission, she’s long been friendless after her schoolmates stopped checking in or wanting to hang out. Worried that she’s losing her sense of self, Ivy’s parents (a delightfully-paired Jessica Gunning and James Norton) sign her up for Children Run Free (“CRF”), a summer camp for teens living with cancer. It’s the last thing Ivy wants after a childhood that has been spent feeling isolated by her illness. Ivy reasons that spending a summer among fellow cancer patients and survivors will only perpetuate her sense of otherness, not feel supportive.

A teen drama with depth.

Ivy finds herself at CRF anyway and, as tropes of teenage-aimed stories dictate, she soon finds herself among the merry misfit band of scrappy teens at CRF. She’s won over by sweet Jake (Daniel Quinn Toye), boy-crazy Ella (Ruby Stokes), and profane Ralph (Earl Cave), among others. Soon, Ivy’s sense of displacement among her peers becomes the norm.

Photo Credit: Spencer Cavalier/Embankment Films

Writer/director George Jaques’ screenplay won’t feel terribly revolutionary, but there’s a charm to how Sunny Dancer unfolds. It’s willfully deceptive, allowing you to fall in love with its ragtag crew of quirky, charming teenagers. They’re so determined to be normal teens, because they are normal teens, with normal feelings and crushes. But their ordinary adolescent personalities are cruelly paired with the brutal reality of illness.

It’s a film about a group of teens with no care in the world but the pursuit of summertime freedom. Several scenes are devoted to their attempts, successful and failed, at escaping summer camp for their own adventures. But as you (and the campers) are lured into a sense of security, Sunny Dancer reminds you it’s ultimately about the finite unfairness of life.

A well-rounded heroine.

Ivy is so keenly determined to see cancer as a mere blip of an experience on her life. She’s the most vividly-realized character, and that determination rings true. As the heroine of a film about teenagers at “Chemo Camp,” the reminder of each character’s potentially dwindling time is devastating and at times defining. Ivy clashes with Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris), who runs the camp, over her reluctance to be there. Patrick’s own experiences relating to childhood cancer anchor his own motivations to make Ivy’s time a memorable, if slightly controlled, one.

Photo Credit: Spencer Cavalier/Embankment Films

Ivy is Sunny Dancer‘s beating heart, beautifully portrayed by the always-stellar Bella Ramsey. But save for Patrick, her supporting cast isn’t as well-rounded. Her friends are so defined by their quirks as to be caricature-like at times. The cast does well with the material they’re given. Right as Sunny Dancer inches towards being an ensemble piece, it reminds you that it is Ivy’s story above all others.

The bottom line.

Sunny Dancer doesn’t reinvent the teen dramedy, but gives it a poignant edge. When it dares to dig deep into the literal life-or-death stakes it presents, it’s genuinely moving. Even though much of Sunny Dancer is devoted to teens grasping at an adulthood they’re not guaranteed to reach, it’s winningly sweet in its innocent pursuit of youthful freedom. There’s an unfortunate lack of earnestness in modern cinema. Movies so often feel unnaturally quippy or gratingly cynical. Sunny Dancer is neither. If only more films wore their hearts so proudly on their sleeves.

Sunny Dancer is now playing in select theaters. Watch the trailer below.

Images courtesy of Spencer Cavalier/Embankment Films.

Claire Di Maio

Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).