Project Hail Mary
Hey everyone, and welcome. Today, we will be talking about the film Project Hail Mary. Fun Fact: This movie is based on a book by Andy Weir, who also wrote another space book turned movie, which is The Martian, which starred Matt Damon. This film was released in 2026 and stars Ryan Gosling, James Ortiz, and Sandra Huller and was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. So without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Project Hail Mary follows A science teacher named Ryland Grace, who wakes up on a ship, confused about how he got there. He learns he is on a mission to save Earth after the sun is attacked by creatures attracted to its light called Astrophages, but another sun is somehow deflecting them, so he is trying to figure out why. He meets an alien rock who is trying to do the same thing. They work together to communicate and find answers to save their respective planets.
Project Hail Mary is a space adventure film with high stakes. It has similar vibes to Interstellar, Wall-E, or The Martian.
Project Hail Mary sounded cool, and it caught my attention because it looked like a cool science fiction adventure. I didn’t really know the premise, but I was excited to see everything play out. I feel like a theme of the film, obviously, is saving Earth, but also how sometimes a different perspective can help figure out how to solve the problem. We see this with Grace getting brought on the project because of his perspective that’s not widely accepted in the scientific community, and throughout the film, especially with him and Rocky working together, we see how valuable his perspective is. I loved seeing how all these different perspectives really helped to give everyone a fighting chance when they realized no idea was too crazy. The movie ends up being Funny, heartbreaking, scary, and a bit sad, but it was an enjoyable story.
Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, who is a molecular biologist who is on a mission to save Earth, which is at risk due to the sun being attacked by an organism called Astrophage. He wakes up on this spaceship confused, and as he remembers the events that led him to be on this ship, we learn more about him and why he was chosen. The film breaks down the science, and even if you don’t understand what he’s talking about, you believe him and think that he is actually a scientist who solved this puzzle that baffled other scientists. I loved seeing how smart he was, not only in his particular field, but with his problem-solving, which came in handy once he realized he was the only one alive. He was the heart of the film and truly gave a performance that made me want to root for him and to find some way to get back home.
The flashbacks give us so much backstory on Ryland that helps us to understand how smart he is and how he ended up on this mission. I loved seeing how he was shunned by his community for his ideas that they didn’t agree with. I loved how he is the one to figure out so much that moves human understanding ahead and gives them an idea of what to do next. His knowing that he was going to die in space was sad, but one scene that did make me cry was learning that he was forced on this mission after all the other scientists died. It was a perfect way to loop back to why he was so confused at the beginning of the film and why he’s not taking it well. It’s a really hard ask to beg someone to risk their life to save humanity, but they did, and he declined, and they forced him to go anyway. Like, yes, he was humanity’s best chance, but that doesn’t mean he wanted to die just because they saw him as being lonely. He warned them about his lack of training, and they said it would be fine, which clearly wasn’t true because he was the only one alive, so now he’s one man running the show. I love how he accepted his fate, and after his time with Rocky, he ended up realizing how important Rocky is to him, and sent what the humans needed and went to save his friend, which gave them both an opportunity to live and spend more time together.
I loved meeting the Eridian who gains the nickname Rocky, voiced by James Ortiz. It was interesting to see this alien’s perspective on things, but also to see where his skills can help with the situation. Rocky and Ryland needed different atmospheres, so Rocky is mostly in s a sphere and just offering lots of ideas. Rocky has great hearing, so anything Grace said he heard and doesn’t really have boundaries, but he grows on Grace. His ship was so cool and futuristic looking, and from the beginning, I was dying to see the inside, and I’m glad we finally did cause it was so cool. I loved that this alien was a good one who was just there to help.
There’s a scene after they collect samples from the planet that has an organism that kills Astrophages that stressed me out and made me cry as if this movie hadn’t already done it. They are in the gravitational pull of this planet, trying to leave, but the fuel tank is damaged, and while they have what they came for, they risk the ship exploding. They are both on Grace’s ship when everything goes crazy, and Grace doesn’t finish what he’s doing to stabilize the ship because he gets knocked out, and Rocky makes the bold decision to risk his life to save Grace by taking him to the med bay. It was such a stressful and sad scene because I thought Grace was dead, then I thought Rocky was dead, and it was all just so sad because it showed how close they were. I’m glad in the end they were ok, but it was all just so stressful.
The movie ended up being funnier than I thought. This added to the charm of Grace because he was smart, but he didn’t take himself too seriously and didn’t feel so uptight compared to his counterparts. Adding some of the comedic moments with him sprinkled throughout the movie really made him more likable and made me want to root for him more.
The cinematography was so beautiful throughout the movie and really helped to understand the tone that the scene was trying to portray. I loved how we saw beauty and vastness in space, but also saw beauty in the science of it all as we switched over so they could see the Astrophages during collection. It showed how beautiful this all could be, but also how scary it could be because getting sucked into the void of space is scary. When they are on Earth, it helps to see how many people are involved and how serious things are, especially that shot of the room with leaders and scientists when Grace gets clearance on the project. There were so many moments where we see the beauty of space, some where we see how stressful and exciting the experiments on Earth were before Grace was in space, and how sad it was to be alone in space and almost have your new friend die. It was all great and really made me feel more of a connection with the film.
My favorite part of the film was Sandra Huller, who plays the head of the Hail Mary project. She starts very intensely, but as we see how serious the situation is, you understand why she is like that. I had never seen Sandra in a film, but I was in awe at how she made this character feel likeable and unlikeable at the same time. It felt like she’s in this position, leading this project to save Earth, which feels impossible, and there’s an immense amount of pressure on her to succeed, and every failure just adds to the pressure. I felt like Grace was getting to her because he was showing her how not to be so intense all the time, and its ok to relax a bit and sing Harry Styles at Karaoke. In the end, when she sends him to space, you can tell that wasn’t an easy thing for her to decide, but she had to put Earth ahead of her own personal feelings. In the end, she breathes a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn’t all in vain and that humanity can be saved. I really just enjoyed the complexity of the character and how Sandra portrayed her in a way that made me understand her reasoning behind her actions.
Project Hail Mary is a movie about discovery, but also survival. Ryan Gosling gives a fantastic performance, and you will just be in awe of the visuals and invested in the story as it unfolds. It’s a huge science fiction spectacle that you can tell they put a lot of money into, and it pays off because it was truly a great film.
