This review contains spoilers for the movie “Project Hail Mary.”

As someone who struggles with deciding what movie to watch, “Project Hail Mary” is a must see for anyone who wants a perfect mix of comedy, science, action, and emotion in one captivating film.  

Due to its lovable characters and engaging dialogue, this movie is one of my personal favorites to watch with family and friends. While showing the impact of companionship, the movie incorporates intense emotion into the calculating science of our world.

Based on the science fiction novel by Andy Weir, “Project Hail Mary” has earned over $510 million globally and has become Amazon MGM Studios’ highest-grossing film. 

The main character, Ryland Grace — played by Ryan Gosling — wakes up on a spaceship from a coma with severe amnesia and soon discovers that both his colleagues are not going to be awake any time soon. From here, he begins to discover his true identity and the real reason he was sent to space. 

It is later revealed that an organism called “Astrophage” is taking energy from the sun, dooming Earth to a dark future. While Grace is trying to recover his past knowledge of Astrophage, he comes across an alien spaceship. Somewhat similar to Grace’s story, the alien’s crew died from radiation within the ship, leaving the alien all alone. After multiple attempts, the alien eventually begins to make contact with Grace. Later being named Rocky, he and Grace grow to be close friends.  

As his memory resurfaces, Grace realizes that his mission is no small feat, instead, he may very well hold Earth’s life in his hands. His mission is to find a way of killing the Astrophage that is eating away at the sun’s light.

Although the two companions are alike in intelligence, they struggled to communicate at first since they differed in language. However, Grace found ways to overcome this challenge by creating a translator, while Rocky devised other forms of communication. 

“He’s a genius engineer. And if I can’t understand what he’s saying, he puts on a little puppet show for me and my tiny brain, and you know what? I don’t mind it,” Grace said. 

Both Rocky and Grace had immense knowledge regarding science and space, and once the pair were able to communicate and put their brains together, they faced challenges that would change the course of everyone’s lives. 

I personally loved this movie due to its entertaining characters, beautiful setting, and complex storyline. Rocky and Grace are extremely loveable, which adds an engaging effect to the movie that makes it feel like you never want it to end.

When Grace realizes that both his colleagues are not waking up, he has to face life completely alone. This is when his isolation from Earth begins.

The human need for companionship is shown through Grace’s quick friendship with the alien. By meeting Rocky, Grace was able to confide in someone, giving him a reason to stay alive beyond the mission. Without him, Grace would have likely gone through stages of anxiety and grief due to his lack of company. The film proves how important companionship is for everyone and how without it, we wouldn’t truly be living at all. 

During his time in space, Grace encountered many emotional flashbacks to his past on Earth, one of them being a memory of the leader of Project Hail Mary, Eva Stratt. 

Played by Sandra Hüller, Stratt created an extremely captivating scene when she was portrayed singing, “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles. As the film began, she was mainly shown as a serious character, so it was especially heartwarming when she used karaoke to express her respect and goodbyes for everyone involved in the mission.

Sitting in the theater, I was so shocked to see her character make this gesture that I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Since that moment, I have found the movie scene online and rewatched it countless times.

Because the whole project was so stressful for all people involved, this scene brought a sense of peace to the situation so that the astronauts could truly enjoy their last day of normal life. However, this emotional scene was not the only time Stratt tried to give the astronauts, Grace in particular, words of encouragement. 

Prior to embarking on his mission, Grace felt an extreme amount of self-doubt. In an attempt to boost Grace’s confidence, Stratt tries to offer affirmations. “You’re a great scientist Dr. Grace, a great human being. The world is counting on you,” Stratt said. 

Before watching the movie, I was worried since I am usually not super entertained by science fiction movies. Instead, my perspective shifted completely when the film made me both laugh and cry repeatedly. Additionally, it kept me entertained for the entire 2 hours and 37 minutes, which is a fairly difficult task. 

If you are ever in need of a heartfelt and inspiring movie, “Project Hail Mary” is a perfect choice that will leave you with a feeling of comfort and hope for humanity.