“You’re smart. You’ll figure it out.”
Some critics are already pointing out that the new sci-fi save-the-world epic, Project Hail Mary, is a collection of ideas that fans of the genre have seen time and time again. That’s certainly accurate. However, so rarely have recycled plot points and old ideas been reworked in ways that feel fresh and imaginative. Leave it to Andy Weir, author of the novel on which the movie is based, to accomplish this by referring to his previous work, The Martian. Like that winning tale, the author has crafted a story that keys into the headspace of an individual who finds himself lost in actual space and finds another layer to his being that causes him to re-evaluate and reshape his very existence. Featuring stellar effects and a captivating score, directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have translated Weir’s book into an enchanting space fable for the ages.
In Project Hail Mary, science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is recruited by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hueller), the head of a top-secret space project, because of his ability to understand a microorganism contributing to the sun’s decline known as Astrophage. Grace’s task is to be able to further comprehend Astrophage to the point where he can defeat it, thereby saving the planet. When a series of events forces him to be the one to be sent out into space, he sets out to try to pull off the mission successfully. However, he is surprised to find another lifeform, a creature seemingly made of rocks, he names Rocky, out there ready to befriend him.
Not having read the novel, I can’t really comment on the story structure of Project Hail Mary the way Weir conceived it. However, the movie version presents the series of events in a non-linear fashion, beginning with Grace waking up in the spaceship and struggling to remember why he’s there, and continuously flashing backwards. I’m not typically a fan of such a device. Oftentimes, these techniques come across as a way for the makers to cover up the fact that there isn’t actually much to the tale they’re trying to tell. Project Hail Mary is an exception in that it actually makes an already intriguing film even more compelling. We travel back and forth between Grace’s time on the ship trying to carry out his mission, and the instances on Earth between him, Eva, and the events that led him to the present. Lord and Miller pull this off without ever making things feel jumbled or uninvolving. Instead, they allow each audience member to be more of a participant in the actual nuts and bolts of the mission than they otherwise would be. For whatever reason, this pulls us closer to Grace, Eva, and the quest to ensure they are successful.
If only the script for Project Hail Mary had allowed room for a slightly deeper exploration into Grace’s life before everything happened. Apart from a scene in a classroom, we don’t get to know him before he undertakes this life-altering mission, although thanks to the interior character work Gosling does, we certainly have an idea. This doesn’t take away from the fact that even though the point of the movie is to save Earth from going extinct, this is ostensibly a character piece. It’s the story of a man who has never fit into average society and has instead chosen to disappear into the recesses of the knowledge and skills he’s acquired to see him through life. It’s a similar mentality that carries Grace while he’s in space, at first. The appearance of Rocky, however, ushers in a new side to Grace; one that brings out a warmth and empathetic nature he might not have been totally aware of before. There’s a genuine sweetness between Grace and Rocky that’s easy to embrace, which injects a real playfulness into the movie. This keeps the narrative from ever getting dry and instead brings forth some real emotion and hearty laughter.
I love it when Gosling allows himself to be playful and sincere at the same time, and thankfully, Project Hail Mary gives him the perfect platform for such a turn. The actor plays Grace as a wide-eyed explorer as well as a slightly damaged soul. As much as Gosling has always been able to excel at bringing overwrought, intense characters to life, his work here may be his most humanized performance to date, especially in the moments when Grace is rediscovering himself as a person, forming a bond with Rocky, and trying to decide his own place in the universe.
As the movie’s only other character of note, Huller is fantastic in the role of a woman who is risking it all for humanity, giving off an understandable stoicism that hides a number of emotions she’s struggling to keep from being fully seen. Eva’s karaoke scene is a highlight for the character as it sees her taking the chance to express her own fears and worries about the mission. It’s a surprisingly poignant moment, and the actress nails it.
It’s not much of a spoiler to say that the sun is saved and Earth does not die. Even though his outcome could have been vastly different, there’s something very moving and profound about the choices Grace makes in the film’s final act with regard to his own path forward. Not knowing for a time if he even has a choice to make, given how dire and desperate things get for him and Rocky, makes things all the more intense. What the character ultimately ends up choosing for himself may puzzle some, but it makes sense in the grand scheme of things. It’s a choice made purely from the profound emotional, mental, and philosophical transformation Grace has experienced. It’s a move rooted in who he now is; perhaps maybe even who he was always waiting to be. Ultimately, and most importantly, it’s an existence that makes far more sense to him than the reality he knew before.
