“Project Hail Mary” is one of the most unexpected and well-crafted movies of the beginning of 2026. The quality of story and acting makes you feel fired up and love the characters and their incredible journey through space. Spoilers included!
Story:
The story of “Project Hail Mary” starts out strong and not close to home at all. The building of the backstory throughout the movie makes the details and emotions stronger. Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling) and Rocky are an amazing and hilarious duo throughout the entire movie. Rocky and Grace’s adventures throughout the movie keep the plot moving and are both fun to watch as they solve their problems together. Grace’s backstory on Earth grounds the entire movie and highlights how much life matters and how much human resolve endures. Eva Stratt (played by Sandra Hüller) makes for a very memorable side character. The tension between Grace and Stratt makes for their intentional closeness and Stratt’s ultimate betrayal of Grace.
Visuals:
If you saw this movie in theaters, then you know how amazing the visuals were to watch. The space visuals from inside the spaceship of the stars and Adrian made my mouth drop. Grace’s scene collecting the astrophage of Adrian was illuminating and it made for such a hopeful tone and awesome shot. When Rocky and Grace were in the atmosphere of Adrian the special effects and the fire created by the atmosphere made such a jarring scene and you felt scared for Grace. Rocky’s planet and ship were also built in a way that aliens have not been pictured before. The very geometric shape of the ship and Rocky’s box gave quite a new frame of the way aliens are pictured. The movie is very reminiscent of Interstellar, especially in the way that the movie is pictured on Earth and in space flight.
Music:
The music in “Project Hail Mary” was very much on point and on theme. The karaoke of “Sign Of The Times” by Harry Styles, gave such a sad and bittersweet moment between Stratt and Grace. It gave the fleeting time of the beginning of the mission much more meaning as the astronauts knew they would not return. When Grace realizes that he needs to save Rocky, “Two Of Us” by The Beatles gives a perfect sentimental hit. The song gives the feeling that everything will be alright and is quite warm compared to the sad and distraught music from earlier. Finally, at the end of the movie Tina Turner and Ike finish it off with “Glory, Glory” giving a perfect conclusion. The loud gospel music makes the movie end with such a powerful and exciting finish to the movie. Each of the songs chosen were purposeful and did not lack in emotion or in need of the scenes that they were in.
Overall:
Overall, this movie was incredible and worth it to watch in the movies. From the jarring visuals, to the hopeful story, to the perfectly placed and quite exciting soundtrack it was an amazing movie. The scenes felt intentional and did not fill up the movie with unnecessary dialogue. Watching Project Hail Mary had me at the edge of my seat and almost brought tears to my eyes. I would highly recommend watching this movie in theaters and give it a nine out of ten for the quality put in and the wonderful acting on Ryan Gosling’s part.
