If you were tasked with saving the world from an interstellar star-killing plague, could you do it?
“Project Hail Mary,” based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name, delivers an extraordinary film that presents a protagonist the audience can relate to.
Despite having a doctorate in molecular biology, Ryland Grace is a middle school science teacher. He is clumsy, unsure of himself and lacks basic social skills.
Suddenly, he finds himself light years from home and alone in space with no memory of how he got there. All he remembers is his mission: to save Earth from a dying sun.
Grace wakes up alone from an induced coma, almost 12 light years away from home in the Tau Ceti star system.
Grace encounters an alien ship that also has only one passenger.
Rocky, as Grace refers to his new friend, is a five-legged, rock covered Eridian who comes from the 40 Eridani star system. Like Grace, Rocky has been tasked with saving his planet from the interstellar threat called astrophage, a microbe with properties unlike any scientist has seen.
Together, Grace and Rocky must discover why Tau Ceti have not been affected by the interstellar threat and overcome their differences in language and culture to save their planets from extinction.
In contrast to the galactic stakes, the movie contains expertly crafted comedic writing. It shines in the developing sibling-like relationship between Rocky and Grace, with the former acting as the unsettling and enthusiastic younger sibling and the latter as the overwhelmed older brother.
As their dynamic is expanded upon, it leads to many hilarious and heartfelt moments between the two that makes the audience wish for an Eridian best friend.
The combined visual and auditory effects of the film are stunning. One of my favorite scenes from
the movie is when Grace is on a spacewalk, and we get to see the astrophage through the infrared spectrum surrounding him in a vibrant display of flickering pink dots.
Composer Daniel Pemberton’s score creates an immense gravity that makes the scene stand out even more.
During one of the most intense moments of the film, Rocky and Grace must save themselves to continue their mission. At one point the audio cuts out and the theatre goes completely silent. Applause and cheers were replaced by deafening silence.
Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller understood how to create intense feelings of suspense and did so with flawless execution.
“Project Hail Mary” succeeds in bringing a fresh and entertaining installment the sci-fi movie hall of fame. The genre has experienced a lack of originality in recent years, but Grace and Rocky swooped in to save the day, capturing hearts along the way.
