Project Hail Mary

Drew Goddard & Andy Weir (Writers)

Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (Directors)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

March 20, 206

Recently, you might have heard of a movie called Project Hail Mary. The book was reviewed in the Reformed Journal last week. It’s doing well—the film had a $200 million budget, and so far it has grossed $657 million. Critics and audiences are both raving, as shown by the 94% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and the average of 4.3 stars on Letterboxd. These statistics make it seem like a pretty good movie.

If you read last weekend’s review, you know the story is mainly focused on Ryan Gosling as middle school science teacher Ryland Grace, who is, for some reason, in space. The issue is that Grace has amnesia and doesn’t know why he’s in space or how he got 13 light-years away from his home. As the movie progresses, he begins to remember that he is on a mission to save Earth as an organism eats away at the sun. Along the way, the viewer will meet a variety of interesting characters, whom I’ll leave as a surprise for you to discover when you see the film. 

I’m not typically a sci-fi fan. It’s simply not my genre, not something I’ve ever been drawn to. I’d rather read or watch a mystery or historical fiction. It’s not like I was against reading or watching Project Hail Mary. It’s not like I’ve never enjoyed anything sci-fi. I’ve enjoyed Ryan Gosling movies in the past, although Project Hail Mary didn’t seem much like La La Land or Barbie. So, Project Hail Mary just wasn’t a book or movie at the top of my list. But I kept seeing advertisements, reels, and recommendations for Project Hail Mary everywhere. Friends were reading it. Friends were watching it. Friends were sending me reels. Finally, I caved. 

I, of course, had to read the book first. I won’t talk about the book much—if you want a review of that, you can read William Boerman-Cornell’s review from last week. 

For those like me who might be worrying about the accuracy of the movie, don’t. I promise it’s not like the Percy Jackson films that were nothing at all like the books. There were some differences between the movie and the book, of course. It’s hard to fit a 400-page book into a two and a half hour film, even though they do a pretty good job of honoring the book. But it’s also hard to create a compelling film when a book is mostly in the mind of the main character. I think the filmmakers handle this nuance particularly well, adding a character named Carl who is delightful and makes some of the more science-y scenes more interesting for less science-inclined viewers. Unless you’re a super nitpicky book/movie enjoyer, you shouldn’t have any issues with Project Hail Mary. 

There’s no need to read the book before seeing the movie. It’s a great movie that people, myself included, are loving all by itself. There are definitely fun Easter Eggs from the book in the film. For example, Ryland Grace is shown briefly wearing a 49ers t-shirt. For those who didn’t read the book, this would just seem like a random shirt of a random football team. However, in the book, it’s explicitly stated that Grace is a teacher in San Francisco. Watching the movie was just that much more delightful because of the background information I had from reading the book. 

Even though I typically would, I won’t encourage you to read the book right now before seeing the film because I would encourage you to see Project Hail Mary in theaters. It’s the sort of movie where the experience is just better when you’re looking at it on the big screen and hearing all the beautiful nuances of the score through the big speakers. 

Part of the beauty of the cinematography is the deliberate mixture of CGI and other effects used in the movie. One character, whom I won’t spoil for you, is a puppet, and the character is so good that the puppeteer will be eligible for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor next year. Another scene, which we see through a filter, uses practical lights and sparkles for the up-close shots and then transitions to CGI for far-away ones. 

Daniel Pemberton’s score makes the moments in which Gosling’s Ryland Grace is alone much more poignant, allowing the viewer to understand what Grace is feeling without hearing his thoughts. Plus, there are some great pop songs too, with Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times” and The Beatles’ “Two of Us” being featured at wonderful moments in the film. 

Overall, it’s a great experience for the senses that’s even better in theaters. I think movies are just a touch better when they’re interesting, not just because of the plot or acting, but because of all of the elements that went into the movie, including camera movements and the composition of music. 

But why, besides the music and special effects, should you go see the film? 

Love. Friendship. Humor. And most importantly, hope. 

No matter how you enter the theater or sit down on the couch ready to watch a silly sci-fi movie, you’ll leave the viewing feeling different–different about your life, the world, and maybe the sci-fi genre. Project Hail Mary tells the story of a man who didn’t think he would ever be an astronaut or go on a mission to save the human species, but through his journey, he finds something he never had when he began. Project Hail Mary is a movie about space and saving the Earth, but it’s also a movie about being human and about experiencing–giving and receiving–love. All of the characters are thoroughly human, even if they’re not human. 

You might even cry about a rock. 

Earlier, I said I didn’t think Project Hail Mary would be much like La La Land or Barbie. But honestly? If we’re looking at the core of each of those movies—realness of the characters, the life lessons, the applications to the real world, the way you feel for the characters—I would say Project Hail Mary fits right in. 

The world feels chaotic and scary. It’s not slowly freezing because an organism is eating the sun, but it feels like it’s falling apart. Project Hail Mary gives hope that it’ll get better.