There’s a particular kind of dread that comes with watching your favorite book get turned into a movie. You know the one. You’ve already cast it perfectly in your head, you know every beat, and you’re acutely aware of everything that could go wrong. “Project Hail Mary,” Andy Weir’s acclaimed follow-up to “The Martian,” arrives carrying all of that weight. It mostly doesn’t need to.
The film drops us alongside Dr. Ryland Grace, played with the disarming charm and presence of Ryan Gosling, as he wakes up alone on a spacecraft with no memory of who he is, where he’s going, or why he’s the only one still alive. The story unfolds in two tracks: the present, in which Grace pieces together his mission in real time, and a series of flashbacks to Earth, where we watch the slow-burn discovery of the Astrophage, a microorganism quietly consuming the sun, and the desperate international effort to stop it. Leading that effort is Eva Stratt, rendered in a quietly commanding performance by Sandra Hüller. She’s stoic, ruthless, and completely compelling in every scene she inhabits.
Weir’s books are famously dense with scientific detail, and “The Martian” proved that density could work on screen when handled right. “Project Hail Mary” takes a different approach: it streamlines the heavier mechanics without abandoning the spirit of scientific realism that makes Weir’s work so satisfying. Nothing here tips into the fantastical. The film earns its sense of wonder the same way the book does: through curiosity, not spectacle.
That wonder peaks when Grace meets Rocky. Without giving anything away, the relationship between the two is the absolute center of the film, and it’s a genuine heartfelt achievement. The question of how two beings with no shared language, biology, or frame of reference could ever find common ground is one that “Arrival,” still one of the best films of this century, explored with Amy Adams a decade ago. “Project Hail Mary” asks it again, and answers it differently, with more warmth and a surprising amount of humor. What Grace and Rocky build together is one of the most affecting screen partnerships in recent memory.
It’s a surprising result from directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, whose filmography includes “The Lego Movie: and the “21 Jump Street” films, skews much more toward comedy than cosmic stakes. But the tonal shift here is sharp. The film is funny when it needs to be and genuinely emotional when it counts, and it never feels like it’s reaching for either. The $248 million budget went almost entirely into practical, on-set construction rather than green screens, and it shows. The film has a tactile, lived-in quality that keeps even its stranger environments grounded.
“Project Hail Mary” isn’t a perfect adaptation. Some of what made the book so extraordinary lives in its patience, in the slow accumulation of scientific problem-solving that the film, by necessity, condenses. But what it keeps is the part that matters most: the idea that even in the most isolated, impossible circumstances, connection is still possible. That’s the film’s beating heart, and it never loses it.
Featured Photo Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.