Review of Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary (2026) Dir. Phil Lord and Chris Miller
The Sun is dying. Earth comes up with one last ditch effort to save it. Send astronauts into the deepest parts of space, to study and understand why the stars are going out. But when Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up from his induced coma, things have gone wrong. He is left to fend for himself. It’s up to him to save the universe.
Lord and Miller are an extraordinary duo. Many of their previous films like, 21 Jump street and The Lego movie, have gained much critical and commercial praise. But it’s their work has producers and writers that have excelled them to A tier talent. They have been responsible for writing and producing the animated Spider-Verse movies, which not only heralded a new age of animation, but those movies are also magnificent pieces of art.
So, when I heard they took the leap and were jumping back into the directorial chair I was thrilled. Project Hail Mary is an adaptation of an Andy Weir book. If that name sounds familiar it's because Andy Weir also wrote a book called The Martian which was adapted by Danny Boyle in 2015, which was also nominated for best actor, best adapted screenplay, and best picture at the Oscars that year.
Then I heard Greig Fraiser was coming on board as cinematographer. All these ingredients make for a film that cannot fail and is guaranteed to be a success on all accounts. Well, I can happily say that Project Hail Mary is absolutely the best blockbuster of the year, by a country mile.
It feels like we haven't had a proper space blockbuster epic for a while. Star Wars movies have been off the big screen for quite some time, the closest thing I can think of would be the dune movies, but those are few and far between. Project Hail Mary is stand alone and can be enjoyed without having to know extensive amounts of lore or franchise knowledge. This is a crowd pleaser in the best possibly way, allowing a general audience to enjoy this film, as well as having plenty of things for the die-hard film fans. Fantastic colourful visuals, solid writing with great character moments, and experimental story telling through a non-linear narrative. There is something in this film for everyone.
Lord and Miller inject such a humanity into Ryland Grace, he feels like such a rounded individual as well as someone who we can all relate too. That feeling of imposter syndrome and the idea that some people are constantly shouting at the top of their lungs “I'm right!” only to have everyone say you’re wrong. I think that feeling is wildly unrepresented in modern media. He is written so well.
This is helped by the ever-charming Ryan Gosling, who continues to be a fantastic on-screen presence. He plays off other people on earth very well, but when he’s in space, he’s all alone. This is where Gosling really shines, to act basically on your own throughout most of the runtime of this movie is something to be commended. I’m trying my best not to spoil the movie when I say whilst he’s in space, he also has great chemistry with another character that is extraordinarily hard to pull off, due to the nature of the character.
The score of this movie I found to be so astounding. I loved Daniel Pemberton’s work on the Spider-Verse films. In particular, I love the way he composed those scores with mostly electronic sounds and reoccurring motifs. I was expecting something similar with this film, but I was very wrong. In this film he uses mostly orchestral music as well as utilising a choir. Choirs in scores are very rare, but I adore them when they are included. This made the score and the film feel so much grander than I anticipated. Which adds an extra edge to the enjoyment of this film.
The cinematography in this film is nothing other than sublime. Greig Fraser as the director of photography was an incredible choice, he has this natural ability of adding so much grit as well as vibrancy to the world around him. There are many scenes in this film that will leave you heart warmed as well as exhilarated. Some of the scenes here are truly invigorating. I was constantly on the edge of my seat, especially when Grace ventures out of the spaceship.
This film was made for the big screen. It needs to be seen on the biggest and loudest screen possible. It has love, melancholy, and laughter but also a solid story and concept which makes it feel fresh and unique, even in a genre where everything has been done to death. What more could you want?
★★★★½
4.5 / 5
Jacob Holmes
https://www.instagram.com/_jacob.holmes
https://letterboxd.com/jolmes_media
