Sunny Dancer centres around Ivy (Bella Ramsey – The Sheep Detectives), who’s off for the summer to ‘Camp Chemo’, as she calls it, for teens who are suffering from, or are in remission from cancer. For Ivy, she’s been in remission for the last 10 months from leukemia.
She’s also royally embarrassed by her parents when they tell her how they referred to her as ‘Bobblehead’ when she was born, given the shape of her bonce. And even more, when they get to the camp, with the shy Ivy’s mum, Karen (Jessica Gunning – The Christophers), telling the other teens, “Any of you kids fuck with my daughter, and cancer will be the least of your worries”.
The trailer changes the profanity to ‘mess’, diluting the effect of that line. No doubt that was recorded for daytime TV broadcast as an alternate line, so at least that sort of thing is given some thought, these days, rather than back in the ’80s when the likes of Beverly Hills Cop would be badly dubbed by another actor.
Along the way, Ivy fancies Jake (Daniel Quinn Toye), her roommate, Ella (Ruby Stokes – Lockwood and Co), is trying to lose her virginity, there was a frequently-used trope for a particular twist in the film – late on – that I instantly spotted, and frequent use of The Scissor Sisters’ I Don’t Feel Like Dancing, to the point where it sticks in the head for a few days afterwards, unlike the contents of this film.
Yes, Sunny Dancer is well-meaning, but fairly dull.
Pop star James Blunt even turns up to the end-of-holiday camp talent contest to trill “You’re Beautiful” before the dialogue comes back in and obscures the key part of that song, “But it’s time to face the truth, I will never be with you“, and then he’s briefly shown as one of the judges.
However, what REALLY stands out in this film is that Bella Ramsey shows she really cannot act whatsoever. She’s so bland for the most part, and there’s one scene where she’s meant to have a massive mental breakdown, but displays this by just shouting her lines, instead of talking at normal volume.
Why does anyone keep hiring her?
And yes, Neil Patrick Harris is in this, as camp leader Patrick. He’s fine in this. Not sure how he ended up here, though. He was in last year’s Dexter: Resurrection, but while I was hoping for a second season of Uncoupled, I saw at the time it had been commissioned further, but hadn’t realised that after the 2023 writers’ strike, it led to the second season being cancelled, and that that was notified in March 2024. Boo-urns!
As for the title, I didn’t know why it was called Sunny Dancer, at first, but apparently according to Wiki, the title mocks the cheesy, hyper-inspirational, and overly sentimental “Make-A-Wish” tropes often slapped onto stories about young people facing illness.
Plus, the fact this film was shot at the awkward 2.00:1 aspect ratio – which fits ZERO cinema screens – indicates it was originally made for TV, and then someone made a last minute change to put it on the big screen.
NOTE: There are some mid- and post-credit scenes, as per the video below.
Sunny Dancer is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 106 minutes
Release date: August 14th 2026
Studio: Quiver Distribution
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 4/10
Director: George Jaques
Producers: George Jaques, Ken Petrie
Writer: George Jaques
Music: Zachary Dawes, Este Haim
Cast:
Ivy: Bella Ramsey
Ella: Ruby Stokes
Jake: Daniel Quinn Toye
Patrick: Neil Patrick Harris
Ralph: Earl Cave
Maisie: Jasmine Elcock
Lucy: Shalom Brune-Franklin
Archie: Conrad Khan
Karen: Jessica Gunning
Bob: James Norton
Himself: James Blunt
Vicky The Local: Olivia Isaacs
Rusty The Local: Finn Torkington
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.