Grappling with the fact that he’s alone in deep, outer space, Dr. Ryland Grace finds a faint signal named “Blip-A.” Upon further inspection, it turns out to be an alien spaceship, foreign to human technology. Despite wanting to run, Grace soon bonds with this charming alien, who later becomes his only friend in the vastness of interstellar space in the film “Project Hail Mary.”
The film adaptation of “Project Hail Mary,” directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is a modern-day cinematic masterpiece and the standard for science fiction films. In my opinion, it deserves a watch for its close-to-perfect execution, emotional characterization, and visuals.
Centered on Ryan Gosling’s character, Dr. Ryland Grace is found alone in deep space in a star system named “Tau Ceti.” After waking up from his induced coma, he finds out that all of his crewmates are dead, and he doesn’t remember who he is. Soon, he retrieves his memory about “astrophage,” an interstellar organism that is slowly killing the Milky Way’s sun.
Deep within this planetary system, Grace finds out that he’s not alone, and that a stone-like alien is here, named Rocky by Grace, for the same reason: to find out why their stars are dying and to find a solution to fix their solar system. In fact, these friendships between Grace and other characters in this movie are the driving force as to why this movie works so well.
For example, he and Rocky alone contribute to most of the runtime, and yet it feels so real without any type of dragging. It’s so refreshing to see a relationship that feels so real to watch through, while at the same time eliciting enough charm to leave you emotionally invested.
This very same plot is executed to near perfection, making you ecstatic when the protagonists are at a high, and gut-wrenching when the catalyst arrives. There’s a certain scene near the end of the movie where the audience was silent, concluding the ultimate climax to the whole story.
Added to the amazing visuals and great soundtrack, this movie is truly eye-opening. The artistry required to show the beautiful green planet from the trailers and the songs combined at the same time depicts one of the most visually stunning films in current-day cinema.
Unfortunately, at some points, the runtime can be a drag. Considering it’s comparatively longer to other films at 2 hours and 36 minutes, the early scenes with Grace alone feel a bit slow to get through. Fortunately, that’s maybe only 5% of the film.
“Project Hail Mary” is full of grace and a modern take on the optimistic view of both humanity and aliens alike, for those wanting to get into the “Hard Science Fiction” genre, and for hope.
While its runtime may be long for some people, it’s still a fast-paced PG-13 adventure for everyone to enjoy. “Project Hail Mary” will still be in theaters for the foreseeable future due to its success.
