Project Hail Mary (2026)
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz
Certificate - 12A
Premiered in London, UK March 2026. Released in the UK March 20th 2026.
All the stars are dimming, except one. Eleven light-years from Earth, a science teacher and a rock-like alien engineer, the sole survivors from their respective ships, are their people's only hope to save their planets.
Project Hail Mary follows Dr Ryland Grace (Gosling) waking on an interstellar rocket ship in deep space with no memory of who he is or why he's there. We learn these things alongside Grace through flashbacks to his life on Earth as he starts to piece things together and work towards his goal. It's a premise that could easily become tedious but that turns out to be very satisfying, ultimately building to a reveal in the final act that re-contextualises a lot of the story that precedes it. It's the kind of thing that begs the audience to watch the film again.
Visually PHM is stunning. Filmed with IMAX in mind, there are many scenes that make brilliant use of the technology to instil in you the grandiose nature of the backdrop. More than just the images, Lord and Miller make use of the ratio aspect to separate 'in space', from 'on Earth' which gives it this larger-than-life appearance.
Without a doubt the beating heart of the movie is the friendship between Grace and Rocky (Ortiz), the alien. This is no doubt due to the refusal to rely solely on CGI for the creature, instead using a combination of puppetry, VFX, and animatronics to breathe life into what in any other film would be dead air. It breathes humanity and energy into every moment the pair share on screen and makes the stakes feel far more personal to the audience. We want to see them succeed and thrive because how real the performances make them appear.
Another essential part of the puzzle is the remarkable score composed by Daniel Pemberton, whose prior works include Spider-man Across the Spider-verse. Iconic and memorable, each beat perfectly underscores every moment raising the audience to the hopeful highs and gripping them in the lows of each looming threat. It's no wonder that the film is still going strong even weeks after it's release.
Based on the book by Andy Weir, author of the Martian, Ryan Gosling has been involved in the production of this adaptation since before it was even published. A heart-warming tale of hope that's much needed in current times, Project Hail Mary is a feat of wonderment and already has people speculating on potential Oscar nominations.
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