Project Hail Mary tells the story of Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who wakes up aboard the Hail Mary, not knowing who he is or why he is there. Through a mix of flashbacks and uncovering clues, he discovers the Hail Mary’s mission: humanity’s last effort to save their dying sun. With both of Grace’s crewmates having died during the journey, he is left completely alone until he meets an alien he calls Rocky. When the trailer was first released, there was some outcry from book fans claiming that the trailer spoiled the best secret of the book. While the surprise of reading it for the first time was amazing, with how major a role Rocky plays in the story, there is no world where he was kept hidden until opening night.
Similar to The Martian, Project Hail Mary does not shy away from the science, but it plays out more akin to a mystery than homework here. The audience is just as in the dark as Grace is due to his memory loss. Not knowing why the world might end is scarier than knowing that it will, so immediately the stakes feel high. As the mystery unfolds, the name “Hail Mary” starts to make sense. In many ways, the film itself feels like a Hail Mary. Despite being based on a book, a 248 million dollar budget for an original sci-fi story is unheard of in modern Hollywood. As any football fan knows, if there’s only one play left and you need to score, you’ve gotta put your best players on the field, and that’s exactly what Project Hail Mary does.
At the helm of this project are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who are best known for their recent work directing the award-winning Spider-Verse franchise. Before redefining the medium of animation, they also directed The Lego Movies, 21 and 22 Jump Street, and both Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies. While these movies seemingly have little in common, they all share a crucial trait: they’re entertaining. Whether it’s humor, action, or visuals, this duo knows how to keep an audience engaged. Project Hail Mary is no exception, and may be their best work yet. Even with a runtime of 2 hours and 36 minutes, there is no downtime. The directors managed to find the perfect balance between exposition, flashbacks, humor, stress, and just pure fun. There is sure to be a vast range of emotions running through the audience, and no one better to lead them on that journey than Ryan Gosling.
Gosling is no stranger to space, with some stellar performances in First Man and Blade Runner 2049. This role demands a much different attitude, and he nails it. Author Andy Weir is known for writing these quippy nerds for his sci-fi adventures, and it was one of the main points of praise with The Martian in 2016. Gosling brings the drama of La La Land and Drive, and combines it with the humor and charisma of Ken, and the result is one of a kind. Everything he does in this movie is so entertaining. One moment, he’ll have the entire theater dying of laughter, only to have the waterworks flowing three minutes later. When adapting a book to a movie, particularly a book written in first person, one of the hardest aspects to translate is the internal monologue. Gosling uses some tricks, like a video diary or flashbacks, to portray these thoughts, but the majority of the work is done through some acting fundamentals done to a really high level. His body language, eyeline, delivery, and even breathing cadence give the audience a glimpse into his mind. This performance is only elevated by Gosling’s chemistry with an animatronic puppet named Rocky.
The production design team needs to take a bow. They managed to bring not only a rock alien the size of a Pokémon to life, but also an entire spaceship. Rocky’s performance was done with a mix of puppetry and CGI, all voiced by James Ortiz, who gives an amazing performance. On top of just looking great, the way this puppet moves (or is animated to move) heralds back to the fully practical aliens of sci-fi classics like Aliens, Close Encounters, and E.T. There’s a feeling of nostalgia and wonder the first time Rocky is shown, and it’s hard to believe that would be accomplished to the same degree with only CGI. The same can be said of the ship itself, which was built to scale, allowing them to shoot in creative ways.
If you’re going to put in the work to build beautiful set pieces and costumes, bringing in Greg Fraser to capture it is the cherry on top. Fraser is no stranger to science fiction, winning the Academy Award for cinematography for his work on Dune (2021), and receiving a nomination for Dune Part Two. Project Hail Mary is absolutely gorgeous. While most of the movie takes place aboard the ship, creative lighting, color, and composition work to reimagine the space as the story moves along. To complement Fraser’s work, Lord and Miller brought in Spider-Verse collaborator Daniel Pemberton to produce the score, and the result is brilliant.
The Spider-Verse movies have one of the most distinct and recognizable soundtracks of the past few years, thanks to the nontraditional approach Pemberton took, opting to include hip hop elements along with the orchestra. He brings that same creativity to Project Hail Mary, which fits perfectly into the film’s ever-shifting mood. The humorous moments get backed with bebop jazz percussion, while the more adrenaline-filled sequences use music reminiscent of John Williams work on Star Wars. And of course, there are a few epic organ compositions for the Interstellar fans.
Project Hail Mary could have easily been another run-of-the-mill sci-fi adventure that ends up on a streaming service a few weeks after release. Instead, it brings together a crew of incredibly talented people and lets them do what they do best. In a way, that mirrors the story itself. Just as humanity in the film is forced to collaborate in order to pull off the impossible, the movie succeeds because it trusts its cast and creative team to rise to the challenge. At a time when most science fiction leans toward dystopia, Project Hail Mary dares to imagine cooperation, curiosity, and empathy as the forces that carry humanity forward. It’s a reminder that science fiction has always been at its best not when it predicts the future, but when it inspires a brighter one. Beautiful visuals, a lead role dripping with charisma, an energetic score, and a story that proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, Project Hail Mary has all the makings of a science fiction classic.
★★★★★
