Author Andy Weir, writer of the book “The Martian” which got adapted into a 2015 feature film starring Matt Damon, wrote the book “Project Hail Mary”, which was published on May. 4, 2021. The novel was very quickly picked up to become a feature film which was to be helmed by Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who have directed such hits as “The Lego Movie,” “21 Jump Street,” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”).
The movie “Project Hail Mary” came out March 20, 2026 with massive critical and financial success, and grossed over $300 million at the global box office. But how is the film? Is it as great as everyone says it is?
Short Answer: yes.
The film follows a science teacher named Ryland Grace (Played by Ryan Gosling) as he is put into space alone to save earth. He is joined by a small rock alien (affectionately called “Rocky”) who is also alone in space, and together they work on saving their planets from dying, while also becoming best friends.
The plot is excellent with an engaging narrative and an optimistic tone throughout the entire film. Gosling puts on probably his best performance since “Blade Runner 2049” and really portrays the socially awkward and nervous teacher very well. And it’s good that we like him so much, because we spent 90% of the movie with him so it would suck if he was boring and hard to watch.
The film was shot with no green screen and used mostly practical sets and effects which is beyond impressive when you think about how we spend most of the film’s runtime inside both the “Hail Mary” ship and Rocky’s alien ship. Rocky himself is also a mix of CGI, animatronics and puppetering, the latter of which makes Gosling’s performance more realistic, as he is actually talking to something that feels alive and is responding.
There are very few scenes with human supporting characters, but when they show up they are fantastic, especially Sandra Hüller playing the stern head of the Petrova task force, Eva Stratt.
The film isn’t perfect; the tonal whiplash of having a really dark and sad scene with Rocky then suddenly switching to a flashback where Grace quips with his boss is quite jarring and doesn’t make for a seamless watching experience.
But other than some jokes not landing, the film is fabulous. It looks visually amazing, it’s hopeful, it makes you cry, and it really is the best film that has come out this year so far.
In the midst of sequels, live action remakes and reboots, hopefully Hollywood sees the success of this movie and realizes that original films with hopeful messages are what we need right now and that we should strive to keep originality and optimism alive.
