In a world that consistently feels one catastrophe away from complete combustion, it’s natural for the art of the time to reflect the anxiety and dread that comes with that. However, it feels so rare we get a piece of art marinating in the existential dread of the modern era that feels so unabashedly hopeful. Project Hail Mary somehow honors it all, validating the intense isolation of crisis while championing the power of connection and intention.
The film, adapted from the bestselling novel by Andy Weir, opens with science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) waking up on a spaceship with no recollection of how or why he is there. His other two crew members died in transit, leaving Grace as the sole passenger of the ship, lightyears away from home.
Slowly but surely, Grace rediscovers his mission as his memory returns. He must figure out how to stop the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out before everything on Earth goes extinct. As he recalibrates, he discovers he is not alone at all. He forges a friendship with Rocky (James Ortiz), an alien trying to save his own planet from the same fate.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the directing duo behind The Lego Movie (2014) and writers of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), team with writer Drew Goddard, who adapted Weir’s other major work, The Martian, in 2015. Though the trio is no stranger to ambitious, envelope-pushing storytelling, they reach for the stars here with their biggest undertaking yet. Much like our main character, they rise to the occasion against all odds.
From the moment Grace opens his eyes, Lord and Miller create a sensory experience, dropping the audience into his state of frenzy and disorientation. Through crooked angles and shaky cameras, they create a suffocating pandemonium as the audience and Grace attempt to get their bearings.
The suffocation dissipates as the scope of space unfolds, but the sheer magnitude is no less dizzying and overwhelming. The camera spins and frames shots upside down, and, even when everything’s still, they’re not quite grounded. Yet, none of it feels like a gimmick; it’s all in service of immersion.
As exploration continues, Lord and Miller’s vision of outer space morphs from something terrifying to something breathtaking. Much like the film’s tone, outer space is simultaneously haunting and intoxicating. Awash in dazzling, vibrant colors and accompanied by a Daniel Pemberton score that evokes curiosity, this version of outer space carries a dash of whimsy, enveloping you in wonder.
Lord and Miller’s decision to forgo any use of greenscreen never allows the grandeur of the environment to get away from them, though. There’s a tactility coursing through the film, tying back to the visceral vision it delivers. It’s not overflowing with digital eyesores that we’ve grown accustomed to in this modern blockbuster landscape. There’s detailed craftsmanship on display, made with love and care.
Although the space sequences are as vivid and vast as they are, the story is tethered to a sense of pathos by Grace’s memories of Earth. They’re integrated using tiny, transportive details, woven in at first as fragments before transforming into something tangible. Sharp matchcuts, courtesy of Chris Dickens’ and Joel Negron’s editing, effortlessly take us between timelines.
Despite all the pomp and circumstance on display, there were moments I yearned to be back on Earth, grounded in Grace’s labs or aboard the aircraft carrier the Project Hail Mary team calls home. It’s a true testament that, in a film with gorgeously designed planets and ships and pulse-pounding action, the stuff on the ground is just as interesting and compelling.
Gosling delivers one of his strongest turns as a leading man to date here. His signature sarcasm is on display once more alongside brilliant fish-out-of-water physicality that a silent movie star would kill for. However, Gosling accompanies his silliness with something much deeper and raw.
Grace grapples with the idea of bravery and the weight of what that means. Gosling understands that bravery is not the absence of fear; rather, it is being afraid and doing the thing anyway. His performance enters a remarkable territory when he visibly wrestles with his fear and desire to be brave. Gosling maximizes the full extent of his range and crafts a character so utterly human, forced to undergo impossible circumstances.
He’s roped into these impossible circumstances by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), the head of Project Hail Mary. The screenplay tasks Hüller with tricky work that she makes look like a walk in the park. Eva is a steely opposition to Grace’s warmer demeanor. She’s seemingly all business and difficult to read at first. Hüller’s dry delivery amps up the comedy as Grace attempts to crack her.
The most impressive moment of Hüller’s performance comes with a karaoke performance of Harry Styles’ Sign of the Times. On the surface, it may feel a little silly and out of nowhere for this no-nonsense character to belt out a Harry Styles power ballad. But Hüller sneakily breaks your heart as Eva’s internal conflict becomes incredibly apparent.
This woman spearheads the project to save her entire planet, a noble effort to say the least. But in constructing this mission, she’s also asking people to make the ultimate sacrifice and give up the remainder of their lives for this project.
Hüller drenches the moment with a blend of joy and intense melancholy, trying to hold space for joy amid sobering reality. It’s equal parts necessary and futile. Only a performer of Hüller’s caliber could turn a moment like this into something so emotionally cutting.
The true emotional center of the film is Grace’s alien companion, Rocky. Ortiz puppeteers and voices Rocky with an infectious gusto; you can’t help but fall in love with him from the jump. Gosling’s chemistry with this rock-puppet is mind-bogglingly palpable as he banters back and forth with Ortiz in the way long-time friends do. It’s inherently silly, but it’s honest and rooted in something so real.
The success of Rocky as a character ties directly back to Lord and Miller’s decision to opt for practical effects. He feels alive because, well, he kind of is. His physical presence enhances every scene he’s in and adds to the believability.
Some may roll their eyes at the idea of Gosling befriending a rock. It may feel overtly saccharine or ridiculous. But Rocky and Grace’s dynamic is the crux of the film and what ultimately makes it feel like a triumph in the face of despair. Maybe it’s because I experienced this movie with a best friend who completely changed my life, but I found this relationship to be profoundly moving.
It’s easy to isolate while the world crumbles around you. But the beauty of connection and friendship is that it can come from anywhere at any time, and it can profoundly change you and how you see yourself. Lord and Miller crafted a defining space epic for this generation, but Project Hail Mary is also about connection in the face of crisis. This all means nothing if there’s nothing to fight for and no one to fight alongside.
Lord and Miller succeed with Project Hail Mary because they understand the intricate experience of being alive. The experience is larger than life, but it’s also deeply human. The comedy is broad and silly, but never detracts from the omnipresent existential dread. And, in being so confrontational of the darkness, they allow the light of the human spirit to trickle onto the screen, leaving you a little braver than you were when you walked into the theater.
Review Courtesy of Adam Patla
Feature Image Credit to Amazon MGM Studios via Yahoo!