“I just woke up from a coma. I am several lightyears from my apartment. And I’m not an astronaut.”
Last week I had the privilege of going out to the movies with friends to see the much-lauded film adaptation of Andy Weir’s bestselling novel Project Hail Mary. Brought to you by the filmmaking duo that made such films as The Lego Movie and the Spiderman “Spider-Verse” movies, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller succinctly capture Andy Weir’s unique style in this altogether wonderful, genre-blending science fiction movie. And while I wasn’t the biggest fan of Weir’s penchant for sarcastic ironic distance throughout the novel, ultimately, I thought it was a great book and the jarring humor actually served as an important thematic element in the story. Plus, Greig Fraser’s jaw-dropping cinematography in Project Hail Mary echoes his prior award-winning work, like in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies or Matt Reeves’s The Batman (apparently, Fraser developed new lenses for Project Hail Mary to capture much more of space in frame).
Ryan Gosling gives a pitch-perfect performance as the brilliant Ryland Grace, a renegade academic who has turned to teaching middle school science only to become accidentally caught up in a massive covert international crisis. Humanity has discovered that the sun is dying thanks to a microscopic organism (“astrophage”) that is absorbing its luminescence, a team of expert researchers is quickly convened, and we learn that astrophage is actually destroying other stars in other solar systems. The exception being the Tau Ceti system whose star is still thriving.
Now, this would ordinarily be the premise for a heavy, tragic, apocalyptic science fiction movie. But Project Hail Mary is not that movie. This alarming scenario is treated instead with comedy and ironic detachment as Ryland Grace accidentally discovers how to breed the astrophage, and following a horrible mishap that kills several prospective astronauts, he is forced against his will aboard the “Project Hail Mary” spaceship, a one-way suicide mission organized to send three astronauts to Tau Ceti in order to figure out why the star is not dying.
This is all slowly relayed to the audience through a series flashbacks as Ryland Grace gradually wrestles with his amnesia and finds himself alone in deep space (his two comrades sadly did not survive the coma to Tau Ceti). And he frustratingly tries to piece together the incredible weight that has been placed upon his shoulders, being the sole survivor of a critical mission designed to save humanity.
Of course, readers of the book will know the next twist very well. About halfway through the story, Ryland Grace is confronted by a mysterious ship that refuses to leave him alone. This becomes a shocking turn of events in human history as Ryland becomes the first person to ever encounter an extraterrestrial when he meets a small rock-like spidery creature he calls “Rocky.” From here, the story changes from being an apocalyptic “dying earth” story to a first contact tale, and eventually a buddy comedy as Rylan and Rocky slowly bond with one another, learn each other’s methods of communication, observe each other’s sleep and eating habits, and decide to work together since both of their home planets are dying of astrophage (Rocky’s home planet is the third planet in the 40 Eridani system). Together, they go on various adventures, with Rocky rolling around in his small biodome on the floor. They venture to the nearby planet dubbed “Adrian” (Ryland’s name for Rocky’s mate back on his home planet) where they realize astrophage has a natural predator: a small organism called taumoeba. But during the retrieval mission, Rocky sacrifices himself and nearly dies saving Ryland.
This theme of self-sacrifice and mutual altruism is the key to Project Hail Mary. The creatures who survive in the universe are not the most selfish or dominant (as some first contact films would have you believe), but rather those best adapted for building camaraderie, cooperation, trust, and even friendship. Once Ryland Grace finds someone (or something) he is willing to sacrifice himself for, his life finally gains depth.
For my full summary of the plot, feel free to check out my review of the novel here, but all things considered the film does a faithful and engrossing job of capturing the plot-beats and enduring themes of the novel (even if Drew Goddard’s triumphant script leaves out a few minor things that were in the novel, like the decision to exacerbate climate change by nuking the arctic, as well as the many intense and overwhelming mathematical calculations, and even Rocky’s embarrassment over his species’s disgusting eating habits). But there are some unique additions in the film, like the LED sphere inside the “Hail Mary” which features immersive large-scale movies of life on earth. Still, the film struck an even more emotionally resonant tone than the book for me, particularly the playful relationship between Rocky and Ryland, though I would say the film felt rushed in some parts, and drawn out in others. There are nods to numerous other first contact films, like Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Arrival, as well as space travel films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Interstellar, but Project Hail Mary challenges viewers with its own extraordinary tonal shifts, from jarring moments of ironic humor to extended scenes of heart-wrenching longing over Ryland and Rocky’s relationship, however these scenes were almost always abruptly interrupted by Rocky learning to fist bump, or hug, or give a thumb’s up (or perhaps rather a thumb’s down). Regardless, this was one of the best theatrical experiences for a new release I have had in a long time.
Credits
- Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
- Screenplay by: Drew Goddard (based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name)
- Produced by: Amy Pascal, Ryan Gosling, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Aditya Sood, Rachel O’Connor, and Andy Weir
- Starring:
- Ryan Gosling…..Dr. Ryland Grace
- Sandra Hüller…..Eva Stratt, head of the Hail Mary project
- James Ortiz…..the voice and lead puppeteer of Rocky (with other voices like Meryl Streep and even Ray Porter, who did the audiobook)
- Lionel Boyce….. Officer Carl
- Cinematography: Greig Fraser
- Edited by: Chris Dickens and Joel Negron
- Music by: Daniel Pemberton