The term “hard science fiction” refers to works of fancy reliant on stringent scientific accuracy. In terms of film, though, the name might as well mean hard to adapt; it’s tricky to be entertaining and scientific at the same time. Yet novelist Andy Weir’s books are hits, and an adaptation worked once, with the 2015 hit The Martian. Now, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have tried to replicate that film’s success with Project Hail Mary.

Project Hail Mary Movie Review

Weir’s work is once again adapted by writer Drew Goddard, who broke through as a television scribe on series including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lost. His screenplay for The Martian got a nomination for an Oscar, a recognition of the considerable task he faced: Turning a dense and technical chronicle of the scientific method in extremis into an adventure film.

With Project Hail Mary, there’s just as much science but considerably more heartache. Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) awakes aboard a spaceship light years removed from the solar system. The induced coma he’s been placed in has kept him alive but, at least temporarily, rendered him without memories of how he got there or what he’s meant to do. His two fellow astronauts were not so lucky; neither survived the journey.

The memories come in flashbacks; in time, Grace remembers the dire task before him. An unknown organism that seems to be eating the sun poses a threat to Earth. One distant star seems immune; Grace’s ship is to figure out why and send instructions for survival back home. As he begins trying to understand the alien system around him, he spies something.

A Ringing Endorsement of Humanity

I had a powerful reaction to Project Hail Mary; it was a jarring reflection of humankind’s flaws and potential. It celebrates our intellectual prowess while acknowledging the limitations of our understanding; it depicts our capacity for bravery while admitting our tendency toward fear; it champions our ability to cooperate without denying our collective chaos.

If you haven’t seen the trailers for Project Hail Mary, I won’t spoil what Grace finds on that other ship; the revelation is too delightful. I will say, however, that I expected a somewhat somber epic — a sort of interstellar Old Man and the Sea. Instead, I got a funny (and occasionally even whimsical) adventure.

Gosling is the perfect vessel for such a journey, of course, but the triumph is in the tale. This has all the truth of a real-life account combined with the imagination of the most speculative fiction, sitting somewhere near the intersection of Apollo 13 and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Beauty and Breathtaking Imagery, Far From Home

The film’s visuals are stunning; Lord and Miller, who have frequently co-written films but not directed together since the 2014 comedy 22 Jump Street, demonstrate a surprising ability to depict and convey cosmic wonder. The credit for such visions should also go to production designer Charles Wood — who has experience developing alien worlds in Marvel pictures such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Endgame — and Oscar-winning cinematographer Greig Fraser, who somehow found time to shoot this amid his work on the Dune films.

Dazzling images alone don’t make a classic, however — a fact demonstrated by a hundred hollow sci-fi splendors. Project Hail Mary reaches the very heights of the genre not on what remarkable vistas it shows us but rather on its insights and impact. If your eyes are dry throughout Project Hail Mary, I don’t think you’re paying attention. It’s a stirring film and an immediate entry into the science fiction canon.

They Gave Ready or Not 2 the Proper Subtitle, and More Upcoming Movies

Oddly, the two most prominent protagonists at the multiplex this weekend both have the name Grace. The other is a blood-spattered bride played by Samara Weaving, who survived a deadly and demonic game of hide-and-seek in 2019’s Ready or Not.

The sequel, Here I Come, picks up immediately — always a welcome method in the horror genre — as Grace faces more problems. If she thought that offing her Satanic in-laws solved her dilemma, she was wrong; she must now face a global supply of underworld power brokers, determined to claim power at her expense. Weaving is an underrated and reliable lead, and she’s buoyed by a game supporting cast, including Kathryn Newton, Elijah Wood and Sarah Michelle Gellar. The returns are a bit diminished from the delightful original, but Here I Come is a satisfying bonus chapter for fans of the first film.

If a British television series is successful for long enough, its story will continue in a standalone film. Such is the case with Peaky Blinders, which finally gets a big-screen chapter some 13 years after its first season debuted. Netflix’s Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Manhas popped up unpredictably in select theaters — that’s kind of what they do — but will begin streaming at home this Friday

While the Academy certainly gave him a swift backhand last weekend, you too can defy Timothee Chalamet in fine fashion. Attend an in-theater stream of the Metropolitan Opera’s Tristan und Isolde. A live stream will beam to cinemas around the country on Saturday, with replays scheduled for Wednesday.

Story by Sean Collier
Photos Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

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