Exciting, amusing and nail-biting, sometimes simultaneously, Project Hail Mary harkens back to the classic adventure films of old while also understanding what makes its tropes so classic.
Believe it or not, it was Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s The Lego Movie that spurred my start as a critic. Despite loving their work on 21 Jump Street, I went in expecting to dislike The Lego Movie, only to be proved so wrong that I ended up writing about my enthusiasm for the film. I have admired Lord and Miller’s ability to juggle light-hearted humour with surprising emotional resonance ever since. Their latest film, Project Hail Mary, is another exercise in heartfelt popcorn entertainment, delivered with quick wit and a love of simple but inspiring tropes. It’s as soulful and endearing as it is thoroughly enjoyable.
The film begins with Dr Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) waking up as the sole survivor of a space crew en route to a distant star. He has no memory of how he got there, so he explores the ship as the context is revealed through flashbacks. Malicious microorganisms have been feeding on the light of stars across space, including the Sun, a development that could be catastrophic for the entire solar system, including Earth. The star Grace is travelling to, Tau Ceti, is the only star that seems unaffected despite its proximity to infected stars. As such, Grace is there to investigate, now on a one-man mission to save Earth.
Project Hail Mary has many parallels with 2015’s The Martian. Both are adapted from sci-fi novels by Andy Weir and have their scripts helmed by Drew Goddard. They are vast spatial stories on the surface, but fundamentally deal with the human heart at their core – be it the importance of resilience, self-belief, and even humour in the face of overwhelming odds. Goddard again opts for a refreshingly light-hearted tone, but never at the expense of the themes’ inherent weight. The picture is alive with colour, comedy and camaraderie, yet it packs a haymaker of an emotional punch when its efforts culminate in the film’s most dramatic story beats. It’s as in tune with its characters and themes as with its entertainment factor.
One drawback of the script’s dual-timeline narrative is that the picture feels like it spends too much time on the setup. The flashbacks are necessary to provide the context and set up the central arc for Grace – he’s a brilliant chemist turned bitter middle school teacher after his work was criticised. Yet the film spends a lot of time utilising these flashbacks in the first chunk of the story. They are engaging and important – the dynamic between Grace and Sandra Hüller’s Eva Stratt, the head of his mission, is particularly gripping in its contrast between the characters’ priorities – but one does wonder if trimming or rearrangement of scenes could’ve tightened the pacing a touch more.
Despite this, the film truly comes alive once Grace reaches the star. He is joined by a small rock alien, whom he fittingly names Rocky (James Ortiz). Having arrived at the star to save his own solar system, Rocky and Grace begin working together to complete their missions. Rocky is brought to life through practical effects – primarily puppetry – and the amount of personality exuded from this practicality endears us to the character so quickly. He really feels alive as he navigates Grace’s ship and learns about the idiosyncrasies of humanity.
Much of the film’s best humour and dramatic tension comes from this unlikely duo and the bizarre but heartwarming friendship they find in each other. Gosling’s performance is equal parts charming and tender, but his scenes opposite Rocky are pure magic. While the film boasts narrative and emotional parallels to Interstellar and even Cast Away, the interactions between Grace and Rocky are maybe the most wholesome alien-human dynamic since E.T.
Visual splendour and lively direction bring the excess of charisma to euphoric life. Differing aspect ratios separate the past and present timelines, but Lord and Miller’s signature high-energy touch brings out the awe of the scenery and the humanity that grounds the central conflict.
Grace and Rocky’s respective ships are inventive in design, their slow drifting through the void of space exuding wonder and loneliness alike. One utterly heart-stopping sequence sees Grace and Rocky skirting the edge of a planet’s atmosphere in a daring manoeuvre to serve the mission. The stakes are enormous, and the tension is palpable – heightened by Daniel Pemberton’s electric score – but the vivacious use of colour and editing to build suspense and create enrapturing imagery alike is reminiscent of the Aldhani heist in Andor. Benefiting from Lord and Miller’s eccentric style and deep love of character and emotional honesty, the film goes from funny to thrilling to genuinely harrowing within moments. It’s as epic and engrossing as space itself.
Where Project Hail Mary shines brightest is the earnestness behind its stellar craft. The themes and character arcs that the film utilises are arguably not the most original – it’s a classic zero-to-hero setup with recognisable tropes in sci-fi and even survival stories. Anyone familiar with The Martian, Interstellar, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and more will probably recognise some of the film’s plot beats. Yet Lord, Miller, and team combine all these familiar features to deliver a story of courage and self-acceptance that is both comforting and riveting.
In crafting a flawed but identifiable hero in Grace, and a necessary friend in Rocky, the film is ultimately about overcoming imposter syndrome and fear in favour of bravery and selflessness. It’s arguably not a novel concept, but the film recognises what makes the concept so beloved, oozing authenticity and sincerity even as it covers well-trodden territory. The results, while bumpy in places, are nothing short of spectacular.
Grand in scope and vibrant in tone and craftsmanship, its narrative path is well explored but bursting at the seams with amiable thrills and thematic richness. Exciting, amusing and nail-biting, sometimes simultaneously, this is a picture that harkens back to the classic adventure films of old while also understanding what makes its tropes so classic. Project Hail Mary is simply delightful in its filmmaking, encompassing the best of Lord and Miller’s idiosyncratic storytelling. I’ll be extremely surprised if this isn’t at least an honourable mention on my best of 2026 list. It’s certainly the one to beat in terms of great 2026 blockbusters.
Project Hail Mary is showing in cinemas nationwide from March 19.
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