The lights go down in the theater and the huge screen before the audience conjures up the following scene: a man awakening from a lengthy coma.
Confused by his surroundings, he travels through a desolate aircraft to realize he is the lone survivor in outer space. With most of his memory completely erased, Ryland Grace along with the audience embark on a two and a half hour journey to discover who he was, and who he could become.
The pacing of the film revolves around Grace’s journey through his past and present. As he slowly pieces together why he is in space, he begins to remember that he is not even an astronaut but merely a middle school science teacher. His life was completely normal until an old paper he wrote while at university attracted the attention of the United States government, causing them to recruit him for help on their latest space exhibition. After going through rounds of experiments, he is presented before representatives from all the nations of the world who reveal a horrific truth to him: the sun is dying. An alien chemical called astrophage has begun to feed on the stellar energy of the sun’s rays, causing its stars to dim and leaving Earth in serious danger. Grace, whose theories may align with the answer to saving Earth, signs on to Project “Hail Mary” as a trainer for the astronauts, who must bravely repair the petrova line caused by excessive astrophage in what is essentially a suicide mission. Since he was never meant to be there in the first place, Grace must grapple with what motivated his travels to space as well as what he is willing to do to save the planet, even if it means giving his own life.
And while Gosling gives a standout performance in this intelligent yet emotionally taxing role, the true star of this movie is Rocky. Voiced by James Ortiz, Rocky is a gentle, friendly alien whose planet, Erid, is also threatened by the expansion of astrophage. Like Grace, he has lost his entire crew in the process of this mission, and is longing for companionship. With all the charm of E.T. and lovable intelligence of Baymax, Rocky quickly stole audience’s hearts from the get-go. Brilliant but incredibly soft, Rocky is delighted to team up with Grace to save their respective planets, quickly taking this serious plight as a bonding opportunity and moving into his partner’s spacecraft. As they learn to communicate via Grace’s computer systems, the two become inseparable, leading to multiple attempts to rescue each other throughout the story. And in a similar vein, audiences became so connected with Rocky that every time he was put in remote danger, gasps were heard all throughout the theater. One letterboxd reviewer even exclaims “YES. I DID F*CKING CRY OVER A ROCK… I’M GUILTY”, summing up the emotions felt by many in attendance.
I was lucky enough to see this film at Cinemapolis, our local indie theater here in Ithaca, and the experience of such a masterful film in a small space was life-changing. The crowd came together as a community, rooting for “Grace Rocky” as they saved their planets, aweing over jaw dropping visuals of astrophage, and crying over the greater revelations of this film. As Gosling himself said to an audience in New York City, “It’s not fans’ job to keep theaters open, it’s our job to make things that make it worth coming out”. And with this sentiment, Project Hail Mary has certainly succeeded. Currently housing a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 4.3 with audiences, Hail Mary has been remarkably popular with audiences and has drawn comparisons to other iconic films such as Interstellar. However, unlike the later, Project Hail Mary proves that a sci-fi galactic blockbuster can be heartwarming yet still profoundly meaningful. Without spoiling too many important details, Grace and Rocky’s journeys lead them to the places they were always meant to be, closing on a lighthearted note. Additionally, the film’s labor of love can be seen through even the most minute details of filmmaking, like Gosling’s daughters’ adorable contributions to the voice of Rocky. Overall, Project Hail Mary is a film that was crafted with heart, and perfectly suited for a downtown cinema screen. It’s a movie meant to be experienced, not merely streamed on a laptop. If you haven’t already, buy your tickets to see this future classic before it leaves the big screen in late April.