Project Hail Mary Reaches for the Stars and Delivers

Project Hail Mary

★ ★ ★ ★

Project Hail Mary is a film based on the novel by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. This film is so entertaining and captivating that its two-and-a-half-hour runtime flies by. Many elements work cohesively to create an excellent space drama that makes first contact with an alien feel fresh again.

Earth’s sun is under threat from a phenomenon, an infrared line from Venus to the sun, called the Petrova Line. The phenomenon contains Astrophage, microbiological entities that are eating the sun and slowly dimming it. It’s estimated that within 30 years, most crops will die and so will most life on Earth. To make matters worse, all observable suns appear to suffer the same fate except one: Tau Ceti.

Ryland Grace teaching middle school
© 2026 Amazon MGM Studios

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), known as Grace in the film, was once a groundbreaking scientist. He lost credibility after publishing a paper hypothesizing that life could emerge without water. Now he teaches middle school science. It’s the out-of-the-box thinking in his research that interests government agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), who sets out to recruit him.

Grace not only uncovers a way to stop the Astrophage but also discovers that a small amount of it can power a spaceship to near-light speed. A one-way mission to Tau Ceti is planned and named Project Hail Mary.

Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace
© 2026 Amazon MGM Studios

Once in orbit around Tau Ceti, Ryland discovers that even though the rest of his crew perished in hypersleep, he’s not alone. A much larger spaceship is already there. He makes contact with an alien, later named Rocky (James Ortiz), who is also the only one on his ship.

Watching Grace work out how to communicate with Rocky could be tedious and venture into boring territory quickly. The screenplay keeps this entertaining through humor and strong character development, not only moving the plot forward but making communication between two species living light-years apart seem plausible.

Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace
© 2026 Amazon MGM Studios

The film keeps raising the stakes for Grace, Rocky and the people on Earth hoping for a miracle in a way that makes sense while continuously ratcheting up the tension and drama.

While the film puts heavy emphasis on its science, it’s never boring and remains continuously fascinating. Is the film’s science real? I don’t know and I don’t care. My willing suspension of disbelief was to the max—not 10, but 11, for those who enjoy a good This Is Spinal Tap reference.

To the story’s credit, it doesn’t try to make the audience feel bad about things like climate change. It invents its own threat that would endanger us regardless of what’s happening on our planet. It’s a unifying, unseen enemy we can all root against.

A gift for Rocky
© 2026 Amazon MGM Studios

To further the fun, the story mixes humor and action masterfully, brought to vivid life by Gosling’s good-natured portrayal of Grace. His range is on full display—sometimes funny, sometimes somber, a little bit action hero, always fully human. It’s that kind of acting that makes the film’s alien feel real. The interactions feel genuine.

Despite its runtime, the film’s pacing moves right along, feeling shorter than it actually is. It’s hard to time a bathroom break with a film like this, because you’re never quite sure what’s going to happen next. You don’t want to miss a single frame. Once you get to know Rocky, you’ll leave the theater wishing he were real. That’s what great movies like this can do.