Project Hail Mary: Movie Review

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Huller
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Based on Andy "The Martian" Weir's 2021 novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary finds Ryan Gosling as Dr Ryland Grace, Earth's last hope when the sun threatens to wipe out all human life.

Waking on board an interstellar ship, Grace realises he has no idea where he is, what he's doing and why...

In 2015, Andy Weir's The Martian made a hero out of poop-filled potatoes and Matt Damon, and in doing so, turned the science into something approachable and understandable for audiences worldwide. There's a similar effect in Project Hail Mary, a move that talks about Astrophage creatures, discusses light speed and the ending of the planet as we know it.

But while The Martian made this language second nature, a lot of Project Hail Mary spends much of its time repeating the basics of big-ideas science to viewers, ensuring that this time it feels a little didactic in places.

As the story flashes before Grace's life before waking on the ship and how he's co-opted into Project Hail Mary, there's more life to be found in the past, thanks to an intriguing relationship with Hüller's deadpan Eva Stratt than the cutesier friendship that Grace evolves with arachnid-rock creature Rocky in space.

There's a distinct feel-good factor at play here in this technically impressive crowd-pleaser that gives space the level of wonderment and awe that it deserves on screen. Both Lord and Miller have mined the humour that Gosling deployed to cosmic effect in The Nice Guys, but they've also given an impressive lens to the space world too, with moments of visual flourish that feel as compelling as any image in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Unfortunately too long, Project Hail Mary could have easily lost some 30 minutes and dulled none of its impact and while there is a sappiness and mawkish edge that creeps into toward the end of the film, what plays out in Project Hail Mary is an impressively big-screen experience that talks of connection, collaboration and co-existence.

Held together by the charismatic Gosling glue, Project Hail Mary is a warm glow of a sci-fi film, but one that will burn you if you get too close to the sunny disposition it displays at certain moments.