I went into Project Hail Mary fairly blind. I knew Ryan Gosling was playing a teacher, I knew he was headed to space to save the world, and I knew there was an alien involved. But beyond that? Nothing. I am happy to report that this is one of the best film I have seen all year.
From the opening frames, I was struck by how brilliantly beautiful this movie is. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have crafted something that feels both massive and incredibly intimate. There are specific shots of the vast, silent vacuum of space that genuinely moved me to tears. It’s one thing to see a star field on screen; it’s another to be made to feel like a tiny, insignificant speck in a boundless universe. That sense of scale is breathtaking, yet the film never loses sight of the human… and non-human… heart at its center.
Project Hail Mary review
I also have to talk about the humor, because it’s a delightfully cute and laugh out loud funny at times. I suppose I should have expected it given Lord and Miller’s track record, but the wit is so seamlessly woven into the tension. Within the first ten minutes, I realized I was watching something special. It’s a survival story, yes, but it’s told with a levity that makes the high-stakes science feel accessible and incredibly fun.
Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a junior high science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship lightyears from home, two dead crewmates beside him and no memory of how he got there. His past comes back to him in fragments: he was a molecular biologist recruited into Project Hail Mary, a last-ditch global effort to save the Earth from a microscopic alien organism called Astrophage that is slowly feeding on the sun. With the sun dimming and the clock ticking; roughly 30 years before the effects become catastrophic. The world’s nations pooled their resources and launched a small crew of scientists toward Tau Ceti, the only solar system that appears untouched by the parasite. Grace, it turns out, was one of them. What he didn’t know, what none of them knew, is that he would be making the journey alone. Just as he pieces together the full weight of his mission and his own grim fate, his ship picks up something unexpected: another vessel. Inside it is Rocky, a rock-like/spider-like alien who, as Grace will soon discover, is out here for exactly the same reason.
Their communication, their shared curiosity, and their ultimate sacrifice for one another created a connection that is genuinely one of the sweetest things I have seen on screen in years. There is something so purely heartfelt about watching two science bros from opposite ends of the galaxy just… figuring each other out, geeking out over problems together, and having an absolute blast doing it. The bond between Grace and Rocky forms the true emotional core of the film, and it hit me harder than I expected.
The technical elements only elevate this connection. The score is incredible, delivering emotion exactly when it needs to, but it’s the use of silence that gave me the most chills. The quiet moments in space, where sound drops out completely, are hauntingly accurate and deeply effective. It grounds the film in a reality that makes the message of environmental protection and selflessness feel all the more urgent.
Ultimately, Project Hail Mary is a story about what we owe to each other; not just as humans, but as sentient beings in a dark, cold galaxy. It is a film about the power of friendship and the lengths we will go to when we realize we aren’t alone. It is stunning, it is heartbreaking, and it is one of the most incredible films you will see this year.
Grade: B+
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Project Hail Mary
Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out.
