Sunlight
Radio DJ Roy (Shenoah Allen) is preparing to take his own life in a rundown motel room somewhere in Albuquerque. The next thing he knows, he’s waking up in his beat-up campervan being driven by a woman in a monkey suit (Nina Conti). After making a quick pitstop at his mother’s (Melissa Chambers), the unlikely twosome embarks upon a road trip to dig up Roy’s dead dad. This is Sunlight, the feature debut from comedian and ventriloquist Conti and co-written by Allen. It’s an altogether absurdist affair full of dark humour, but it’s a film that never loses sight of the humanity underneath the mask.
Conti and Allen fully lean into the oddball nature of their movie. As if the premise wasn’t weird enough, there’s also an entire improvised song about orifices, a sleazy pawnbroker and a disgruntled business owner pursuing the heroes on a bike at an inhuman speed. Monkey likewise isn’t one for mincing her words, which leads to some of the feature’s best lines. Conti and Allen’s bizarre style won’t appeal to everyone, though there’s much more to this feature than its simian gimmick suggests.
As the pair spend more time together, they gradually learn more about each other. Viewers soon discover the woman wearing the monkey suit is called Jane. She’s using the costume as a means of coping with the loss of her mother, and she aims to make a new life for herself that’s out of the reach of her overbearing stepfather (the cyclist chasing them). She cares about Roy’s well-being, and there’s no shortage of moments of genuine tenderness shared between them. But she’s also afraid he won’t like “the bitch in here”, as she refers to her real self. At the same time, Roy is processing a lifetime of family trauma that led to his suicide attempt and is determined to help Jane escape. At its core, Sunlight is a heartfelt story about two broken people trying to help each other pull themselves back from the brink.
Using a surreal concept to tell a profoundly human story, Conti and Allen have created one of the most endearing and unique films in recent years that deserves to be seen.
Andrew Murray
Sunlight is released in select cinemas on 24th October 2025.
Watch the trailer for Sunlight here:
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