This review contains spoilers.
Imagine that you wake up from a years-long induced coma to find yourself floating through the cosmos on a spaceship. The only other two passengers on board haven’t survived the journey, and you realise that the fate of the world falls squarely on your shoulders. This is the premise of Project Hail Mary, adapted from Andy Weir’s novel of the same name. If this author sounds familiar, that’s because he also wrote The Martian, which got its own film adaptation starring Matt Damon in 2015.
But let’s get back to this film. Project Hail Mary centres around Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), who’s on an intergalactic research mission to save Earth from a dangerous group of amoebae called Astrophage. Gosling also co-produced this film as part of a deal with Amazon MGM Studios, so clearly telling this story was important to him.
Floating ‘Round My Tin Can
The film begins with Grace waking up on the Hail Mary ship with long hair and a caveman-like beard. He is understandably disoriented, having no memory of how he came to be here, but with enough wit about him to quip that he’s ’light years away from [his] apartment.’ Ryland’s wry humour helps to lighten the mood in a movie about the end of the world. This makes sense when you consider that its directors, Chris Miller and Phil Lord, have previously worked on comedies like The Lego Movie, the Spider-Verse franchise and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
As Weir wrote in his novel, ‘human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.’ As observers of what is essentially a one-man show, it takes a while to really get into the character of Ryland Grace without feeling like this is a film about Ryan Gosling alone in space. The half-hearted attempt at giving the Ken actor a nerdy makeover doesn’t help. Accuse me of perpetuating ugly privilege all you want, but he fails to look like a typical scientist. Blonde highlights and a bodybuilder’s physique don’t just disappear behind a cheesy graphic tee and a pair of specs. Our inability to divorce Gosling from his previous roles is a problem. If he happens to be an actor that you tend to find irritating, then buckle up, because you are stuck with him for another two hours and twenty minutes!
The film hops from past to present whilst Ryland’s memories return in a series of flashbacks. We discover that he is a talented researcher with a doctorate in molecular biology, but his outlandish theory that life might not need water to survive leads to him being struck off. Outcast from academia, Grace settles for becoming a middle school science teacher. But there is trouble afoot. Talk turns to a sun-dimming phenomenon occurring in space, whereby star-devouring microbes that feed off solar energy threaten to plunge Earth into another Ice Age. Turns out, Ryland’s theory was not so crazy after all.
Pretty soon, a high-profile figure from the European Space Agency (played by Sandra Hüller) turns up at his door. Her name is Eva Stratt, and she wants Grace to join a cross-government mission that she is spearheading: Project Hail Mary. Out of all of the stars in the galaxy, just one, Tau Ceti, is immune to the Astrophage. To save humanity from extinction, the team must uncover why. The trouble is, Tau Ceti is over 11 light-years away, and Eva wants Ryland to be one of the three crewmen onboard the spaceship travelling to discover its secret.
Throughout the film, Stratt acts as a sort of mentor, chastising and ordering our leading man about one minute and giving him a pep talk the next. It’s amusing to watch Grace’s sarcasm and reluctance clash with Stratt’s no-nonsense attitude. These two actors give as good as they get. Refreshingly, Eva does not fall at our hero’s feet, unlike Claire in Jurassic World or Hope in Ant-Man. In fact, Grace has no love interest; the focus stays entirely on the mission and his unlikely friendship with an extraterrestrial (more on that to come).
For fans of the book, the film is faithful to its source material and doesn’t shy away from Weir’s passion for science. However, clever streamlining of certain scenes from the book helps to translate this narrative onto the big screen in a way that keeps audiences on their toes.
All Hail Rocky!
Let’s get back to the present. Out of the blue, another spaceship begins orbiting around the Hail Mary and a bridge forms between them. Curious, if not slightly apprehensive, Grace decides to investigate this mysterious craft. It’s here that he comes across a petite, faceless alien with five spider-like limbs made from rocks that he aptly names Rocky. Luckily, Rocky seems harmless enough and even mimics Ryland’s movements in a show of solidarity. The pair go on to communicate through a strange dance, from hesitant squats to jazz hands and even Usain Bolt’s victory pose. Eventually, Ryland uses his computer software to translate Rocky’s chirping noises into robotic English. It’s not smooth sailing. Cue some hilarious misinterpretations: a fist bump is hence referred to as ‘fist my bump,’ while thumbs up becomes thumbs down because that is all Rocky’s anatomy will allow.
For an arachnophobe like myself, Rocky’s jumping and scuttling movements felt off-putting at first, but you cannot resist the talent of award-winning puppeteer James Ortiz. In an industry that heavily favours CGI, with puppetry fastly becoming a dying art form, hopefully Ortiz’s performance will give the sector a much-needed morale boost. You cannot help but warm to Rocky. He is a cracking engineer with a big heart whose intelligence matches (if not surpasses) Ryland’s. ‘He’s just the best alien friend you’re ever going to have,’ Gosling joked in a recent interview. And the film gives us plenty of heartwarming moments to endear you to the pair, from a karaoke session to Harry Styles’ ‘Sign of the Times,’ to a scene where Grace reaches for Rocky’s hand through a pane of glass like a mother whose baby is in an incubator. The banter between the two reminded me of that between Din Djarin and Grogu in Star Wars’ The Mandalorian series. Whilst Rocky might not be as merchandisable as the adorable Baby Yoda (although he does have his own LEGO set), he is no less charming.
Adrenaline Rush
We eventually come to learn that Rocky is also his ship’s sole survivor on an identical mission to help save his race from the Astrophage. So the pair make the perilous journey to Tau Ceti together, using the power of science and teamwork. This is when the action really picks up. When they reach their destination, they discover that a planet orbiting the star is home to an organism capable of defeating the Astrophage, which they call Taumobea. So, the pair must retrieve a sample, which, of course, is a dangerous ordeal. As they go about their business, the Hail Mary begins to spin uncontrollably, and Grace has to sever the cable that connects him to the ship, but passes out. Rocky comes to his rescue but is severely injured in the process. Once they are both healed, they decide to part ways and return to their home worlds, each with a batch of Taumobea. But disaster strikes once more. The Taumobea is consuming Hail Mary’s fuel and will inevitably do the same to Rocky’s ship.
Like a true hero, Grace sacrifices his chances of returning home to go rescue his stranded alien pal, sending his research back to Earth via a probe. The film ends with Grace living on Rocky’s planet, teaching a science class to the youngsters of this extraterrestrial race whilst the Hail Mary is being refuelled.
Now, you might be asking if any of this is believable? Hell No! But that’s why they call it science fiction. Just like its protagonists, the story feels suspended in zero gravity, never bogged down by the high stakes or existential dread that the end is nigh. Sure, some scenes are a little corny, and the film’s relentless positivity can feel overbearing at times. But the pacing is impeccable despite a lengthy runtime, expertly balancing science-packed exposition, adrenaline-inducing action and heartwarming comedy. Project Hail Mary reminds me of 2025’s The Running Man (starring Glen Powell) and Wake Up Dead Man (featuring Daniel Craig) in the sense that it is not didactic but made to entertain. Even if sci-fi isn’t your usual cup of tea, you will still find this movie highly enjoyable.
‘[At] this stage of my life, if I’m going to make films, I want it to be a film that is worth going to the theatre to see,’ Gosling told reporters during the run-up to the film’s release.
With a hugely successful opening weekend at the box office, he has certainly achieved that. Project Hail Mary might not be as instantly iconic as Star Wars: A New Hope, or as beautifully profound as Interstellar, but it is still, for the most part, the stuff that cinematic dreams are made of.
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