Project Hail Mary–A 2026 Version of E.T.
In this crowd-pleasing sci-fi adaptation of Andy Weir’s book by the same name, Project Hail Mary opens with Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) waking up on a spacecraft, unable to remember who he is or how he got there. Floating in his astronaut suit, he hovers above the bodies of his two dead colleagues. He doesn’t quite remember their names, how he knows them, or even how he ended up aboard this spacecraft. Grace is a cosmic castaway lost in space..
Through a series of flashbacks, the viewer learns that Ryland is a devoted middle school teacher with a formidable molecular biologist’s training. He literally is drugged into being one of three astronauts in a top-secret project–Hail Mary– mandated with a mission to save the world from a catastrophic ice age. Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller from “The Zone of Interest” and “Anatomy of a Fall”), the project leader, must take desperate measures in order to save the planet. An unknown threat known as an astrophage is consuming too much solar energy, which will result in the sun’s imminent death.
Unless the Hail Mary can contain the astrophage, the Earth’s inevitable ice age will extinguish most of the human population. In desperation, the international community has joined forces to find a solution. Stratt, however, very much doubts that there will be a global sharing of radically limited resources.
Grace is identified as the one scientist most likely to succeed in advising the Hail Mary because of his extraordinary scientific knowledge. After recovering from his amnesiatic state, Grace meets another weary space traveler who is experienced in how the astrophage functions. He names this crab-like five-legged space creature “Rocky”.
Like Ryland Grace , Rocky has a backstory. His ship, Blip-A, is delicate-looking but technically advanced. Rocky also is very friendly, an innocent, guileless and trusting extraterrestrial, similar to E.T. Both are vulnerable, sentient beings. Grace senses that Rocky is his equivalent in scientific expertise, and begins to communicate with him as Rocky also teaches: how to channel astrophage. Both are profoundly lonely creatures who yearn for friendship.
The special effects are beautiful and highly original, more like abstract paintings than the typical space odyssey cinematography.
As with the forty-year old movie, “E.T. the Extraterrestrial”, this would be a great watch for Christmas time as much as for summer entertainment! Project Hail Mary is a highly polished, glossy blockbuster that is, at times, funny, tough and tender.
Gosling, in one of his most endearing roles, gives pathos in his friendship with a faceless but childlike alien character. His talent for comedy allows laughing at his lost-in-space plight. Having to sustain the viewer’s attention throughout almost the entire film (with his co-star Rocky), is no small feat. Yet Gosling masterfully succeeds in taking over the screen.
Project Hail Mary may become a family movie classic! Highly recommend.
Availability: MGM+ (in US)