Sunny Dancer Review: Cast Shines in ‘Chemo Camp’ Dramedy

Bella Ramsey, Neil Patrick Harris and the cast shine in George Jaques’s Sunny Dancer, the cancer coming-of-age teen movie you didn’t know you needed.

But Ivy isn’t a typical teenager; she’s a cancer survivor, and her parents have found a special summer camp for her: Children Run Free Camp – or, in Ivy’s words, ‘Chemo Camp’: a four week-long program that they think will help her come out of her shell. “I don’t wanna be the person everyone feels sorry about all the time,” Ivy reacts in typical teenage fashion, soon lashing out at her mum and dad and accusing them of using their “sick daughter” story as something to make them more interesting. Back in her room, Ivy shakes her head. “It won’t work,” she says to herself. And yet, somehow, it does.

CRF Camp is exactly what Ivy feared it would be: a very uncool activity camp filled with slogans like “staying alive each day,” where new members are greeted with a lame “Welcome to new campers” song led by Camp President Patrick (Neil Patrick Harris, of Gone Girl), who quickly reassures Ivy that “we’re all weird here, but in a good way.” Worse than that, her roommate Ella (Ruby Stokes, of Jay Kelly), who won’t stop talking about her ridiculous crush on a 24-year-old staff member (Louis Gaunt’s Tristan), would seem to be her polar opposite.

Soon, Ivy’s welcomed into Ella’s ‘Squad’ – Jake (Daniel Quinn Toye), Ralph (Earl Cave, of The Sweet East), Maisie (Jasmine Elcock) and Archie (Conrad Khan) – whose inside jokes, lack of boundaries, and oddly positive attitude towards the camp make our protagonist feel even more isolated. One day, an inspirational speaker (Kat Murphy) comes to CRF Camp, and Ivy can take it no more. “Why do you do this?,” she asks the woman, who had just finished telling them all about the ‘secret of influencing’, and proceeds to unleash all of her anger on her.

Just like that, Ivy starts being herself, but so does Patrick, who starts to tell her about not only the camp’s real purpose, but also his involvement in it. More than that, it turns out CRF Camp doesn’t even want to fix her; a crucial thing this community understands is that sometimes, the best thing you can do for someone who’s lost and in pain is to let them cure themselves, trust them to know what they need, and providing them with enough tools for them to know where to ask for help. And so, Ivy soon comes to realize that this community of outcasts might just give her what she didn’t even know she needed: acceptance, kinship, and somewhere to belong.

If based on this synopsis, you think you know exactly what Sunny Dancer will be like, think again. Writer-director George Jaques is not interested in telling a soppy story that will make you tear up. Instead, what we get here is a charming coming-of-age tale about teenagers growing into themselves in the most authentic and joyous way possible. Fantastic characterisation and a phenomenal lead performance from Bella Ramsey make us care for every single member of this community, who just-so-happen to be cancer survivors on top of the many more things that define them. You’ll be surprised by how much you’ll laugh with a movie that brims with personality and that will also surprise you in ways you won’t see coming.

Of course, there are highly emotional moments too, and Bella Ramsey really excels at letting Ivy’s pain out at exactly the right time, while also showing us how much the character has grown throughout the film. We’ve never seen Ramsey be as raw as they are here, and there are some highly affecting moments that will stay with you for a long time after the credits roll. Despite his limited screen time, Neil Patrick Harris also excels here, with a series of key scenes that really convey the true essence of his character. When Patrick starts sharing his story with Ivy, his facial expression alone is enough to show us the many scars he hides to the world, and it’s thanks to Harris’s control of emotions that that scene will hit you on such a visceral level.

The supporting cast excels too, with every ‘Squad’ member standing out for a different reason. Ella in particular has a fantastic arc in the movie, and Ruby Stokes plays her beautifully, delivering some of the funniest scenes in the entire movie as well as some of the most poignant. An infectiously British score (Este Haim and Zachary Dawes) and the attention to detail in production and costume design make Sunny Dancer‘s universe a world we want to inhabit. While some moments of exposition could have been avoided and part of the narrative is a little predictable, it’s easy to forgive the film for its shortcomings when it’s just so enjoyable and so human.

With fantastic performances, a charming story of teenagers growing into themselves, plenty of humor and personality to keep you engaged, and an authentic portrayal of cancer that doesn’t feel manipulative, Sunny Dancer is the ‘chemo camp’ coming-of-age movie you didn’t know you needed, and a must-watch at the Berlin Film Festival.

Sunny Dancer premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on February 13-22, 2026. Read our Berlin Film Festival reviews and our list of 20 films to watch at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival!