What do the very best space movies do? They acknowledge the very real dangers of intergalactic travel, but also celebrate what might be possible when mankind steps out into the cosmos. In Project Hail Mary, Earth’s literal salvation lies out amongst the stars, but the real message of the new Ryan Gosling movie, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, is that none of us can be saved on our own.
If you didn’t read the book by Andy Weir, the movie replicates its initial, disorienting beginning: A man named Ryland Grace (Gosling) wakes up alone on a spaceship, with no memory of how he got there. There are two other people on board, but they’ve both been dead for some time, and the stars outside don’t look familiar. Some people might crumble, or lay down and die, but Grace is a smart guy, and he wants to survive. Especially because, as his memories slowly return, he realizes just how well-named the Project Hail Mary mission is.
Back on Earth, as flashbacks reveal, the sun warming our planet has begun to dim, leading to the threat of global extinction within decades. Naturally, the world’s sharpest scientific minds scramble to figure out what, exactly, the cause is — unfortunately, once they do, they can’t determine how to stop the destructive microbes (known as astrophage) which are blocking the light from not just our sun, but countless other stars across the galaxy. However, the scientists have identified a far-off star that does not seem to be suffering from astrophage infection, and thus a plan forms to send a small crew on a one-way mission to investigate that star, and figure out if it might have answers.
Grace makes for an unlikely astronaut, someone not fully prepared for this mission (for reasons the movie does fully explain by the end). But as humanity’s only hope, he’s committed to see it through, and gets some unexpected help when he arrives at that one unaffected star, and discovers that there’s another ship there. An alien ship. With one other lifeform on board, who happens to be on the exact same mission Grace is: To save his world.
Screenwriter Drew Goddard previously did a brilliant job of adapting Weir’s The Martian for director Ridley Scott, and like that movie, a good portion of Hail Mary’s lengthy runtime is devoted to Grace science-ing his way through this scenario. Whether it be working out the exact nature of the astrophage or coming up with a way to communicate with his new friend, whom he dubs Rocky, it’s a true achievement in competency porn — the joy of watching smart people solve problems.
Project Hail Mary (Amazon MGM Studios)
And it’s all interlaced with Lord and Miller’s remarkable blend of very human comedy and pathos. The directing team has made a name for themselves with their ability to make seemingly impossible projects work, from turning 21 Jump Street into a meta delight to finding the essential human bricks of The LEGO Movie. It’s a filmography that speaks to a certain level of fearlessness and buckets of imagination, and Hail Mary benefits from both, especially as the movie tackles the challenge of depicting a truly alien species (including its technology).
On a technical level, the cinematography is frankly dazzling in IMAX, capturing the Technicolor magic of the universe. Grace’s ship ends up being the movie’s primary location, and it has the necessary grounded, tactile feel, rich with key details that advance the storytelling in quiet ways. And it’s worth noting that costume designers David Crossman and Glyn Dillon excelled at finding a remarkable selection of cat T-shirts for Grace to wear. (Including one T-shirt from the musical Cats!)
For so much of Project Hail Mary, Gosling is the only human on screen, and he’s an actor more than up to the task. He’s broken our hearts in searing dramas like Blue Valentine and inspired countless giggles with his commitment to comedies like Barbie, but this is the rare project that draws on all of his talents, and he does a beautiful job of managing the tonal shifts required by the film. We now live in a world where Michael B. Jordan can be Oscar-nominated for playing twin vampire hunters; it’s not impossible to imagine Gosling receiving similar consideration, especially given how much the weight of this film sits on his shoulders.
Cast-wise, talented folks like Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, and Milana Vayntrub all make appearances, and Sandra Hüller (The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall) is quietly terrifying as the leader of the Hail Mary mission. (She also performs a very solid karaoke version of Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times,” as teased by Gosling’s recent SNL appearance.)
Still, Gosling’s real co-star is Rocky, who largely appears on screen as a physical puppet and is voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz. (One of the movie’s best jokes does come as Grace cycles through a few different voice options.) The fact that we come to care as deeply about Rocky as we do about Grace is the essential glue of this movie and its crowning achievement. Watching them come together, against all odds, makes this above all else a story about friendship and connection. Values worth shouting about as loudly as possible, these days.
It’s possible to get caught on a few niggling nitpicks, plot-wise. But right now, with international relations in chaos, Project Hail Mary is a movie that believes it’s possible to save the world. It dares to hope. And that’s more beautiful than all the stars in the sky.
Project Hail Mary launches into theaters on Friday, March 20th. Check out the latest trailer below.
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