(Image courtesy of IMDB. “Ryan Gosling and James Ortiz star in a spacefaring adventure in ‘Project Hail Mary’.”)
Emily Lindtveit
Connector Staff
The much-anticipated movie adaptation Andy Weir’s bestselling novel “Project Hail Mary” was released March 20, 2026. The movie follows a science teacher and less than willing astronaut Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and his attempt to save his planet from a sun-eating parasite. Grace, who wakes up from a coma with no memory of his life before trying to figure out anything, is left alone after his crewmates die due to system failures. His life comes back in flashes as he works through life on the ship. While on the ship, Grace meets another life form Rocky (James Ortiz) who is also trying to save his planet from the same sun eating parasite.
Ryan Gosling delivers a very charismatic performance, one that surprised for sure. He played Grace very convincingly. The relationships he forms with the Project Hail Mary team are realistic, but it also gives the ending a lot of reasoning. His character was charming, albeit in an awkward sense, but did not come off as Ryan Gosling playing himself. He played Grace’s awkwardness and intelligence well. Grace’s character goes through an interesting arc, where although he is smart while on earth and is their choice for going up, he’s treated by everyone else as a little dumb. He’s extremely competent, and that is shown more effectively when he is alone on the ship in space. His more selfless decisions towards the end feel in line with his character and how he has changed since leaving Earth.
The relationship that blooms between Grace and Rocky is obviously the character relationship at the forefront of the film. They form a tenuous partnership at first, just looking for the solution to their respective parasite problems. Overtime, they become closer friends and sacrifice different things for each other. Although that relationship is great, and the best in the film, the small friendships Grace forms with some of the humans on earth are also sweet. Eva (Sandra Hüller) and Carl (Lionel Boyce) become the first to believe in Grace’s idea, and to fully believe in his involvement in Project Hail Mary.
One of the films’ best attributes was definitely visual storytelling, and cinematography in general. Because a large part of the first hour when Grace and Rocky meet, they do not have a common language; a lot of their communication is done through visuals. The simplistic back and forth of them trying to communicate illustrate very well the struggles they are having. Even some of the transitions between Grace’s present moments on the ship and his past as a teacher or working for the government are edited very well, and show how jarring some of these memory flashes are for Grace. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, with shots of outside the ship and planets being standouts. The humor was well balanced, especially while on earth everything is so serious. There were very few laugh-out-loud moments, but that wasn’t necessary for successful comedic reliefs in the film. It was more subtle humor, and made the audience laugh without it feeling cheap. Rocky easily provides some of the funnier moments, certainly due to his naivety about how humanity operates.
The pacing overall is a little slow, but there is a necessity to it because of how complex the problem is. Some of the science may go over the audience’s head, and yes, it is a long watch, but it’s a movie worth checking out. It delivers a great story, with compelling arcs for characters and beautiful visuals of Grace and Rocky saving the stars. Grade: A-
