CTL Review: Project Hail Mary
- Maximilian Kent
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Amaze. Amaze. Amaze. These are the three words I share with Rocky, the alien in Project Hail Mary, when describing this movie. I had the chance to see it in 70mm this weekend ahead of the March 20th opening, and this film may truly be the "Hail Mary" that movie theaters need.
Deep Space Plot
To address the film first: this is the second book-to-screen adaptation from author Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian starring Matt Damon. While The Martian focused on a grounded, binary approach to survival on Mars, Project Hail Mary goes a little "further out there."
The premise centers on our sun dimming due to an otherworldly bacteria called Astrophage. Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a scientist who is part of a task force sent to understand exactly what Astrophage is. During their research, they discover one specific star that remains unaffected. A ship is dispatched to that star to find out why, and to see if they can save our planet before it's too late.
As Ryland Grace arrives at this distant star, he discovers an alien facing the exact same extinction-level threat. While hesitant at first, Ryland soon realizes this alien—Rocky—is friendly. Together, they begin to collaborate on a scientific solution to stop their respective planets from dying.
This short summary doesn't quite do the film justice. For instance, the movie avoids a strictly linear timeline; Ryland experiences the past through flashbacks aboard the Project Hail Mary, slowly remembering the circumstances of the mission and exactly why he ended up on that spaceship.
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Science vs. Spectacle: What Got Lost in Translation?
While the film is a triumph of adaptation, there is a noticeable shift in focus. Readers of the book know that Andy Weir’s writing is essentially a series of complex math problems solved through sheer willpower. In the book, Ryland Grace "sciences the sh*t" out of every single kilogram of fuel and every degree of trajectory.
The film, however, leans much harder into the emotional stakes and the visual spectacle. Because of the medium’s constraints, we lose some of the granular "lab work" that made the book feel so grounded. For example:
The Math: The movie simplifies the complex calculations Ryland performs to understand Astrophage’s energy output. Instead of seeing the step-by-step logic, we often get a "Eureka!" moment and a quick cut to the next action sequence.
The Problem-Solving: Some of the technical hurdles Ryland and Rocky face on the ship are resolved much faster on screen. Where the book might spend twenty pages on a single engineering failure, the movie uses a montage.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it keeps the pacing tight, but for those of us who enjoyed the "textbook-thriller" feel of the novel, the film feels a bit "Science-Lite." It prioritizes the wonder of discovery over the work of discovery.
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What are you waiting for, a Hail Mary?
To say anymore about this film would leave you less time to get tickets and watch it yourself. Project Hail Mary maybe what the movie theatre industry was waiting for to jump start people going back to films like the event they are. This film is a 5 out of 5 stars! It is now playing world wide.
