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The spaceship Hail Mary is indeed full of grace, Dr. Ryland Grace. He was supposed to have two fellow crew-members, but they died while in suspended animation. Frankly, they were all going to die anyway, because their emergency deep-space mission does not have enough fuel for a return journey. That means the entire responsibility for saving planet Earth falls on Grace, but it takes the scruffy scientist time to remember after he wakes with short-term amnesia in Phil Lord & Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary, adapted from Andy Weir’s novel, which opens Friday in theaters.
As viewers learn through flashbacks, Grace was once a cutting-edge molecular biologist, but his controversial theories sabotaged his career. Due to his disgrace (so to speak), Grace worked in recent years as a mild-mannered high school science teacher, until Eva Stratt, director of a new multinational space agency, recruits him to help save the world.
The recently discovered “Petrova Line,” extending from Venus to the Sun, threatens to deplete all the energy from the solar body. The nature of the cosmic parasites might have confirmed some of Grace’s unconventional hypotheses. Yet, even when his experiments contradict his radical conjectures, he remains one of top experts on the so-called “Astrophage” particles.
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There is hope, but it involves the longest of long shots. Apparently, Astrophage has consumed many dead stars as it traveled through the universe. Yet, for unknown reasons, the distant Sun-like Tau Ceti remains unaffected. Consequently, Stratt organized an expedition to the star, hoping the crew would discover something that might save Earth’s Sun as well. Originally, Grace was not slated for the mission, but Stratt “recruits” him after the original crew-member’s untimely death.
At least Grace largely figures out his mission in time for humanity’s first alien encounter. The alien he dubs “Rocky” hails from planet Erid (in the 40 Eridani system), where their Astrophage situation is equally dire. As Grace and the diminutive Rocky devise ways to dock their ships and work together, Project Hail Mary becomes one of the best “first contact” films since Arrival.
Screenwriter Drew Goddard nicely translates Weir’s scientific speculation for the big screen. All the Astrophage and Petrova Line business makes more than enough sense for viewers without advanced science degrees. However, the human dimensions elevate the film above and beyond recent good to middling science fiction films.
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Give tremendous credit to Ryan Gosling, because he completely sells Grace’s friendship with Rocky. Likewise, James Ortiz’s voice-overs and puppetry convincingly bring the craggy little guy to life. Gosling also develops a nice flashback bromance with Lionel “L-Boy” Boyce playing Officer Carl, Grace’s personal security agent and minder. Yet, Gosling rises to the challenge of his considerable first act alone-time on-screen, maintaining the film’s momentum with his earnest energy. Plus, Grace’s reluctant acceptance of his potential heroism adds a good deal of messy human credibility.
In fact, Grace might represent Gosling’s best work to date, but he probably won’t get the full credit he deserves, because of elitist biases against the sf genre, which is a shame. The presence of Sandra Hüller (from the Oscar-nominated Anatomy of a Fall and the Oscar-winning The Zone of Interest) should appeal to snobby critics, but her rigorously cerebral portrayal of Stratt will leave most viewers cold.
Regardless, the Grace and Rocky show is a winner. Hopefully, in a few years, a comic publisher like IDW (who had a surprise hit with their Event Horizon prequel) will be able to license further stories from planet Erid inspired by the film’s character and production design work, because Rocky is likely to build a solid geek-fandom. While the grand, cosmic-level special effects look cool on the IMAX screen, they are completely overshadowed by the “human”-scale scenes featuring Grace and Rocky. Indeed, it turns out there is a fair amount of small “g” grace in Project Hail Mary as well.
Ultimately, Goddard, Lord, and Miller successfully marry the hard science fiction of Arthur C. Clarke with a heartfelt alien buddy story. It is exactly the kind of big, original genre filmmaking that creates new franchises and stimulates fresh interest in science fiction. Very highly recommended, Project Hail Mary opens in theaters this Friday (3/20).
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Grade: A
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Here’s the trailer of the film.