Into Space, with Grace - ‘Project Hail Mary’ Film Review
by Jim Puliafico
In the near future, our sun is dying, leading to a global ice age and the total extinction of all life as we know it on Earth within 30 years. The cause of this threat is determined to be a microorganism called “Astrophage,” which is infecting and slowly sapping the sun’s energy. In fact, this mysterious infection also happens to be effecting every sun in our galaxy - except for one named Alpha Ceti. In a miracle of international cooperation, the scientific arms of the world’s governments find a way to unite and launch Project Hail Mary, a long-shot manned mission to investigate Alpha Ceti’s special immunity in hopes that our sun and all earthly life can be saved.
Ryan Gosling plays Dr. Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher and a quietly brilliant molecular biology researcher who is recruited (by force) as one of three astronaut-researchers to be sent on a long-shot, one-way space journey to Alpha Ceti, almost 12 light years from Earth. Once there, the goal is to learn why the Alpha Ceti sun remains unaffected and send that information back to Earth via data probes in the hopes that our sun and planet can possibly be saved.
The film’s non-linear structure drops us into space immediately as Grace awakens from a medically induced coma during a ship emergency. Disoriented and struggling with amnesia, we’re with Grace as he wrestles with the unfamiliar controls of the suddenly out-of-control ship while experiencing flashbacks that allow us to understand just enough about his life and the events that led to his selection for the mission. Within these sequences about the genesis of the project, Grace meets Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), the intelligent, strong-willed, no-nonsense leader of Project Hail Mary and a multinational team of scientists formed with the purpose and hope of solving this existential threat. As an informal technical advisor to Stratt during the early mission planning, Grace is present for many morally complex decisions, including his own forcible conscription into the project, all in the name of warding off annihilation.
Based on the 2021 novel “Project Hail Mary” by writer Andy Weir, this film’s premise is a truly welcome return to “hard science” sci-fi stories such as Weir’s The Martian. As refreshing as that is for many of us nerds, the strength of this film lies in the balance between the science-heavy elements and a narrative sweetened both by the comedic sensibilities of filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and by Grace’s unexpected deep-space encounter with “Rocky,” an alien being whom we learn is on a similar mission to save his home world, Erid. The relationship that Grace and Rocky form, while awkwardly (and often humorously) learning about each other, feels honest and earned and becomes the audience’s emotional connection point for most of the film. Their bond, forged through embracing each other’s differences and driven by the grave urgency of their mission, provides the emotional propulsion for the journey we’re on with them. In a manner that recalls the relationship between Elliott and E.T., Grace’s interplay with Rocky is truly the emotional core of the film, offering a solid humanistic anchor.
By focusing on the Grace–Rocky relationship forged by their shared plight, any messaging in the film centers on the concept of sacrifice for the greater good, along with a subtle but positive contemplation of cooperation between species that feels especially resonant in present times, when interactions between humans and nations here on Earth seem increasingly strained.
In a role where Grace is often the only human character on screen for long stretches, Gosling’s performance infuses the character with the perfect mix of intelligence, wonder, playfulness, and just a tinge of longing, making Grace feel like the ideal everyman astronaut.
Visually, especially during the space sequences, the film is incredibly immersive, creating dazzling cinematic moments through special effects and camera movements that are wondrous yet fully believable. The creature design for Rocky is decisively alien in a mysterious but non-frightening way, to the point where the kids in your family (or even you) may want a Rocky figure or plushie.
By the end, we feel as though we’ve been on a journey, having experienced both visual spectacle and genuine emotional wonder. At its best, Project Hail Mary strikes a precarious balance between Lord and Miller’s comedic tendencies and its hardcore sci-fi adventure stakes. And it’s well worth the journey.
4.5 out of 5 Bear Paws