The Reel Review
When Earth’s scientists discover that a microbe is systematically destroying the stars of the universe, the planet’s leading subject matter expert is sent on an intergalactic mission to save the Sun and Earth. Once at his destination, he meets an alien life form on a similar mission, who together, could save the entire universe. Ryan Gosling and Sandra Hüller star in this sci-fi action/adventure.
Ryan Gosling more than carries this largely faithful adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 novel – he embodies it, as the mission’s wise-cracking, sole survivor waking from an induced coma on a spaceship millions of miles from Earth. Dazzling visuals, clever problem solving, humor and suspense keep the story moving, all with elements of Gravity, Arrival and The Martian. Flashbacks reveal the series of events that led him on this journey. Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, Zone of Interest) is terrific as the laser-focused scientist spearheading the mission to save Earth.
The only minor negatives are an exhausting two hour and 36-minute runtime and some eye-rolling cutesy humor, but all of that is easily overlooked thanks to Project Hail Mary‘s rousing soundtrack, incredible visuals and tear-inducing emotional messages about friendship and selflessness.
REEL FACTS
• Although puppeteer James Ortiz also voices the alien Rocky in the film, Ryan Gosling’s daughters Esmeralda and Amada occasionally voiced Rocky through Gosling’s earpiece on set.
• This is the first joint directing credit for Phil Lord and Christopher Miller since writing 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
• This is the second movie adaptation of Andy Weir’s sci-fi novels, after 2015’s The Martian. His next will be Artemis, about a smuggler caught up in a conspiracy for control of the Moon’s only colony.
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