Project Hail Mary Balances Spectacle and Story in Ambitious Sci-Fi Epic

By Noah Santiago and Jean-Manuel Granda

Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace in “Project Hail Mary.” (Jonathan Olley/Amazon Content Services LLC/TNS)

The awards season has come and gone, and now everyone's attention is focused on a quirky space movie based on a book - Project Hail Mary. The film tells the story of Ryland Grace, a science teacher who wakes up in space alone with no recollection of how he got there. He then remembers that he is on a mission to save humanity from a dying sun.

It's directed by the duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who are behind many franchises such as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Lego Movies, the Spider-Verse films and 21 Jump Street. The movie is already being hailed as one of the greatest sci-fi films ever created, putting it in the ranks of Interstellar and Solaris. It's a huge critical and financial success.

The Review

Ryan Gosling dominates the screen for most of the movie. It's one of the best performances of his career. He delivers this high-end and often silly performance. While this provides its own unique charm to the film, it was overdone. A lot of the comedy overshadows moments where some sincerity would have helped strengthen the film's emotional core. Sandra Hüller, the co-star, serves as a sort of counterpoint to Gosling's role. She balances Gosling's chaotic energy in a more grounded role. Hüller was great in this movie. She has this karaoke scene, which was beautiful. The film finally had this huge release of emotion that had been bottled up until that point.

All the silliness aside, there is something very sad about Project Hail Mary as a whole. I think it's rooted in how isolating a lot of it feels. It's such a huge movie with such grand imagery and for the most part, there are only two characters. There is something weirdly depressing about the world-ending isolation beneath this.

This movie is very long - over two and a half hours - and you can definitely feel the runtime. This usually is not a bad thing, but this film's third act suffers from some serious pacing issues. The first two hours are very engaging, but the third act tries to deliver multiple emotional climaxes, which dilutes the impact of the story's resolution.

Project Hail Mary is undoubtedly one of the most visually stunning films of all time. Cinematographer Grieg Frasier is at his best of his game here. The visuals are amazing. The film is also really well edited as well. It changes its aspect ratio when switching between the storylines of the present and flashbacks, which is really creative.

I think what works best here is how space is merely a backdrop to what is ultimately a deeply human character piece. When stripped down, this is ultimately about survival, friendship, and sacrifice.

That's all from us. Let's hear what others have to say:

"Project Hail Mary is the perfect blend of visual storytelling and deep character narratives within the cinematic infatuation of space. Gosling proves again he's a jack of all trades, being able to create a complex relationship with an intergalactic rock that makes for one of film's greatest duos" says senior Eli Sarote.

"I liked it. The visuals, cinematics, and soundtrack were amazing. I also loved how the plot progressed however the ending felt dragged out." says senior Chris Viera.

"Project Hail Mary has some of the best cinematography I've seen in a while. Considering how many space movies there are, this one looked and felt different" says senior Miguel Cabrera.

Final Rating

Noah's Rating 3.5/5

Pretty good, really solid film. Sometimes being swept up by lights and colors and a silly Ryan Gosling performance is all you need.

Jean's Rating: 3.8/5

Very good feel-good movie, slightly overrated and many details from the book would have made the film's main problem more serious, and the impact heavier. Overall, I really liked the film and the complex connections between the characters.