“Project Hail Mary”’s Head is Lost in the Stars
As Star Trek famously said, “space: the final frontier.” For as long as humans have existed, there has been interest in what lies in the twinkling darkness above us. Hope, possibility, and danger mix together to capture the imagination of those living below. Writer Andy Weir has long been captivated by space and the isolation that exists there. His breakout novel, The Martian, was adapted into a critically acclaimed film of the same name from Ridley Scott. Now, his 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel finalist book, Project Hail Mary, has made its way to the big screen under the direction of Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up alone and disoriented aboard a spacecraft. His memory is foggy, but there are flashes that come through and remind him how he ended up millions of miles from home. Our sun is dying because a microorganism, astrophage, is eating away at the energy of the star. In thirty years, the Earth will be cooled to catastrophic levels. Despite being a middle school science teacher, Grace is singled out by the government to study astrophage to save the planet. For some reason, Tau Ceti has been unaffected by the astrophage, so Grace believes the key to saving the world lies in what makes Tau Ceti undesirable to the microorganism.
The key to Grace’s scientific journey lies in the relationship he forms with a rocklike lifeform, creatively named Rocky (), whose planet is also dying from astrophage. At this point, Project Hail Mary resembles Arrival in its approach to humans and aliens finding common ground. Their dynamic is charming. Rocky is like a bull in a china shop and Grace is the beleaguered adult trying to keep things afloat. Beneath that, though, is a reminder of our ability to connect with entities that don’t share our life experiences. That all living organisms share some key attributes that make us more similar than we realize. At a time when life and people feel so fragmented, it is a balm to watch Grace and Rocky form a profound connection when they seem to have so little in common.
Amazon MGM Studios.
Project Hail Mary’s toughest adversary is its tone, which swings wildly from buddy comedy to genuinely harrowing reflections on the lengths governments will go to in order to save themselves. Some humans are seen as expendable in the name of the greater cause of humanity. The film poses an interesting moral question about sacrifice and what a life is worth, but that’s fairly readily sidelined by cute quips from Grace and Rocky.
To Gosling’s credit, he plays both sides of this emotional swing perfectly. Grace never claims to be brave, nor does he seem to want to be. This is not a hero’s journey. It’s a suicide mission, the result of which Grace will not get to see. Nor will any of Grace’s loved ones see it. Some of the situations Grace endures are quite harrowing, but they aren’t given the space to breathe. The same could be said about his main government contact, Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller). She has the weight of the world on her shoulders, but the only introspection we get from her is a karaoke performance of Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times.” It’s a moment that would have landed with much more intensity if the script had chosen a tone to more closely follow.
There’s no denying that Gosling’s charm is a strong point of Project Hail Mary. It’s what makes the film as vibrant as it is. Well, Gosling’s charm and the truly beautiful visuals of space that make you fall in love with the twinkling world and all of its mysteries. Project Hail Mary is trying to be both weighty and a bouncy popcorn flick, but that’s a difficult scale to balance.
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