PROJECT HAIL MARY
- Colin Fraser
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
THREE AND A HALF STARS The sun is dying and Dr Ryland Grace is sent to save us. Turns out it's a bigger problem than he thought, and he's gonna need a bigger brain.
SF DRAMA US English #PROJECTHAILMARY Starring Ryan Gosling, James Oritz
There’s a strain of big-budget sci-fi that mistakes noise for awe; PROJECT HAIL MARY isn’t entirely immune, but it’s far more interested in charm than chaos. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and adapted from Andy Weir’s novel, this is a glossy, good-natured crowd-pleaser that plays like a family-friendly variation of Close Encounters of the Third Kind for a more anxious, less patient age. There's even an in joke to underscore the point.
Ryan Gosling anchors the whole thing as Ryland Grace, a reluctant saviour who wakes up alone in space with a mission to stop the sun from quietly giving up. It’s a familiar setup- amnesia, flashbacks, science-as-heroism - but the film leans into its central odd-couple dynamic with a disarming sincerity. When Grace encounters an unlikely extraterrestrial ally, a talking rock no less, the film settles into a gentle rhythm about cooperation, curiosity and not panicking when faced with unknown unknowns.
That tone is its greatest asset. In an era where every second blockbuster seems contractually obliged to level a city, PROJECT HAIL MARY is almost aggressively violence-free. Its conflicts are built around puzzles rather than punch-ups, and its stakes - while cosmic - are handled with a lightness that never tips into cynicism. The notion that humanity might band together in the face of extinction feels, admittedly, like the film’s most fanciful idea, but it’s presented with a kind of 1980's, open-hearted conviction that's easy enough to go along with.
Gosling proves easy company for a film that touches two and a half hours. His lightly self-deprecating warmth keeps things buoyant even as the narrative circles familiar beats. There’s a sense, at times, of the story congratulating itself for its own cleverness, lingering a little too long on solutions we’ve already grasped. And yes, it’s too long. A good 40 minutes could be jettisoned into deep space without anyone lodging a complaint. The film’s back half, in particular, lingers on emotional notes it has already played rather nicely the first time.
Still, there’s something refreshing about a blockbuster that wants to be kind. In these more battle-hardened times, there’s real value in watching nice people and, improbably, sentient rocks, simply try to get along and be, well, nice. It’s big, bright, occasionally silly and while profound, undeniably endearing.
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