I went into Project Hail Mary expecting a standard sci-fi blockbuster.

Ryan Gosling.

Space.

Spectacle.

The possible extinction of humanity.

A lot of science I wouldn't understand.

And, to be fair, it has all of those things.

What I didn't expect was how much I'd enjoy it.

Clearly, I'm not alone. It's been a hit with critics and audiences alike, hovering around 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now it's available to stream at home, if you missed it at the cinema, I'd highly recommend giving it a watch.

A Hail Mary

The premise is about as high-stakes as it gets. Science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he's there.

Slowly, he pieces together the truth: our sun is dying, Earth is in trouble, and he may be the last hope.

So far, so sci-fi.

But what makes Project Hail Mary special isn't really the end-of-the-world stuff. It's what happens when Grace discovers that he's not quite as alone as he thought.

Enter Rocky.

Humour is a Master Key

The friendship between a human and an alien who initially can't even communicate becomes the heart of the film.

Two beings from completely different worlds, with different bodies, languages and ways of understanding the universe, gradually learn to trust each other.

And, importantly, to make each other laugh. And the audience too.

There's something surprisingly hopeful about that.

So much science fiction imagines our encounter with alien life as a source of fear.

What if our response to something completely unknown wasn't fear, but intrigue?

What if intelligence, wherever it emerged in the universe, naturally wanted to understand?

That's where I think the unexpected joy of the film comes from.

Rock Solid Friendships

For all the vastness of space and the existential danger hanging over everything, Project Hail Mary is ultimately a film about curiosity, humour and good old-fashioned camaraderie.

We might be separated by light years. We might not breathe the same air. We might not even be able to see or hear the world in the same way.

But perhaps we could still find a way to understand each other.

And maybe even become friends.

Is there anyone in your own life this could apply to too? Ha!

Based on a Book

Of course, the film wouldn't exist without Andy Weir's bestselling 2021 novel of the same name. Weir is also the author of The Martian, which I really enjoyed and even ended up studying as part of a "Level Up Your Craft" writing course.

I haven't read Project Hail Mary yet, but it's on my (ever-inflating) TBR...

I am about to tick one off the list though, as I've reached the final chapters of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time, which includes a species of sentient spiders. Easy for me to say. If you enjoyed the anthropomorphic elements of The Monkey State, then I'd recommend giving that a whirl too. Tchaikovsky even comes up in the "Customers Also Bought" section for my books.

Hang Comfy,
Jim