Sunshine

28 Days Later saw Boyle reinventing the zombie film, while Trainspotting single-handedly revitalised the British film industry in the early Nineties.

Factor in romantic comedies (A Life Less Ordinary), kids' flicks (Millions) and mainstream thrillers (The Beach) and you've got the ultimate movie-making jack-of-all-trades. Now Boyle has turned his attentions to science fiction and he's only gone and scored again.

Foreboding labyrinthine corridors, reminiscent of the claustrophobic interiors of the Nostromo in Ridley's Scott's Alien, contrast with spectacular sequences in deep space, brought to life with dazzling special effects.

Every frame is pristine, polished to perfection, and as the mission nears its destination, clever lighting effects bathe the entire film in brilliant, retina-searing white.

With a long meditative build-up that allows us to bond with the crew and empathise with their growing infatuation with the big yellow blob in the sky, it's a genuine shock as the film suddenly shifts gear into bloody disaster movie, with an ever-increasing body count and a palpable sense of growing terror.

Wearing its influences on its sleeve, albeit with enough intelligence not to become a total rip-off of previous cinematic close encounters (Alien's terrifying stalking xenomorph is cleverly transposed into a far-more human form), Sunshine drips with invention and excitement.

The final act may descend into a head-frying mess of sharp edits and digital trickery but the build-up is more than worth the freak- out at journey's end.

In a word, and despite its faults, it's blinding.