Project Hail Mary (12A)

High school science teacher Ryland Grace regains consciousness on a spaceship bound for the sun. Light-years from home, Ryland has no memory of who he is or how he got on the ship. As his recollections slowly return, the teacher calls upon his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to solve the mystery of why the sun is dying out. To save life on Earth, he may need to befriend an otherworldly being.

LondonNet Film Review

Project Hail Mary (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s otherworldly adventure, adapted from Andy Weir’s novel by screenwriter Drew Goddard, starts in the middle and gradually works its way back to the beginning. Time is of the essence in Project Hail Mary but not to the dynamic directing duo, who gently propel us into dizzying orbit with the most unconventional and gorgeously touching screen double-act outside our solar system…

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) regains consciousness on a spaceship bound for Tau Ceti, a star located around 11.9 light years from Earth. Two crew members, captain Yao Li-Jie (Ken Leung) and pilot Olesya Ilyukhina (Milana Vayntrub), appear to have died in induced comas in transmit. Ryland is alone and suffering from amnesia, unable to recall who he is or how he came to be on the vessel. The ship’s computer, Mary (voiced by Priya Kansara), provides his name and purpose. Ryland is the science officer and fragmented memories piece together the past.

He is a science teacher at Grover Cleveland Middle school, recruited by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), director of the Hail Mary project, to consult on an urgent matter. Single-celled organisms called Astrophages are stealing heat from our sun, and in 30 years the Earth will cool 10-15C with catastrophic consequences for our species. Ryland blasts off on a one-way mission to neutralise the Astrophage threat. Far from home, he encounters another adventurer on a similar quest: a rock-like being from the planet Erid, whom he christens Rocky. They work together to conceive a hare-brained plan that might save both home worlds.

Project Hail Mary takes its title from a traditional Catholic prayer and, figuratively, from a last-gasp shot at success – but Lord and Miller’s wondrous film doesn’t require any divine intervention or outrageous good fortune to reach for the stars and shine brightly. Gosling is a supernova, whether he is talking to himself or interacting with his unexpected playmate. He plies innate charm to devastating effect to expose his character’s vulnerability and self-doubt, and handcuffs our emotions to Ryland as he muddles through an immense self-sacrifice for a greater good.

Rocky is beautifully realised, predominantly as an articulated physical puppet controlled by a five-strong team led by James Ortiz, who also provides the creature’s voice. The interplay of this intergalactic traveller with Gosling creates magical and gut-wrenching moments. The film fully earns its tearful deluges of sadness, relief and life-affirming joy. Screenwriter Goddard repeats the alchemy of his Oscar-nominated work on Weir’s earlier book The Martian. He mines gentle humour at opportune moments to relieve tension and glimpses each setback through Ryland’s eyes, tinged with the knowledge that Mary has just enough fuel to reach Tau Ceti but not to return to the third rock from the sun.

– Jo Planter