Sunray: Fallen Soldier Digital and Cinema Review

4 star gritty and brutal revenge story.

Sunray: Fallen Soldier is a 2025 British action thriller revenge film co-written by Sam Seeley alongside James Clarke and Daniel Shepherd, who also direct.

The whole project is created by and stars a collective of former British Royal Marines Commandos – the UK’s elite amphibious special operations capable commando force. Written, directed, produced, edited and acted by former Royal Marines, many of the Sunray team have lived and experienced the direct effects of conflict including the loss of friends. Veterans were employed across the production both on and off screen.

It is available on UK Digital Platforms and selected UK cinemas from 24th January 2025, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.

“Echo 4, this is Sunray. At extraction point now, ready for pickup, over.”

Andy (Tip Cullen – Silent Roar, One More Shot) is a war veteran struggling to re-adjust to life back at home, living in a remote static caravan and working a dead end job in a hardware store, where his work ethic is not appreciated. His regular visits to therapist Joanne (Gemma Knight Jones – Been So Long) don’t seem to help and he is estranged from his ex wife Elaine (Karlina Grace-Paseda – The Witcher: Blood Origin) and daughter Rachel (Saskia Rose – Raging Grace).

Rachel thinks her mother is too protective of her because of her father, but it turns out she is right. Her boyfriend Cassius (Daniel Davids – The Whip, When Autumn Comes) is the son of ruthless drug crime boss Lucian (Kevin Golding – Chasing Shadows) a notorious heroin dealer. Heading up North with his father for a deal, he leaves Rachel alone at a party with his drug friends and a moment of madness leads her to try some heroine.

It is laced and she dies almost immediately. Andy sets out to find and kill all of those responsible for the death of his daughter. With the help of Echo Team, his old unit, Smudge (Tom Leigh – Take Cover), Sledge (Luke Solomon) and Harper (Steven Blades – Lore, Firecracker) he embarks on a killing spree, working his way through the ranks and anyone in his way towards his daughter’s killers.

“Have you ever watched a person die? You feel the presence leave the body. What’s left is their empty eyes staring right through you. That is all.”

Sunray: Fallen Soldier is a very good watch, it’s fast paced for the most part and there’s enough action to keep things exciting. The flashback sequences and the fight scenes all display the knowledge and experience of the team who created this film and feel extremely authentic.

It’s an interesting story which really highlights the effects of PTSD on returning servicemen and women and not in a sugar coated way either. There are enough other elements at play to stop it feeling preachy and while it is quite a long film at nearly two hours, there are side stories which flesh it out and give the characters life.

The acting is pretty good too, it’s well written, and although the jumping back and forth makes it a little confusing in places it all comes together nicely. I still can’t decide whether the twist was a clever device to further highlight Andy’s mental state, or a bit of a let down, but that’s for the individual to determine. Well worth a watch.

“Huge fan of the nail gun, hammer combination, but you’re going to need something with more of a punch.”