Andy Weir's 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary, was a whopping fun-ride. After I read it in 2024, I was charmed by Weir's ability to fuse hard sci-fi with a moving story about a solitary teacher who's thrust into an international plight to save our Solar System's sun before it's eaten away by an alien virus (known here as Astrophage). When I heard that a movie was in the works, with Ryan Gosling in the lead role, my smile stretched from ear to ear.
Having just seen the movie, I can proudly say it does Weir's novel true justice. It is, more or less, exactly as I'd imagined it. Even the alien Rocky, an Eridian extra-terrestrial, is a charming, lovable pile of connected rocks - as it was in my imagination. While this human/Eridian duo meet up in the deep cosmos, they learn to communicate, and use their scientific prowesses in order to save their respective planets from Astrophage's threat.
Project Hail Mary is a relatively early 2026 blockbuster release, and may not resonate in the public's memory by the time movie awards season kicks in. It is a moving drama nonetheless, a smart science fiction experience, and an exciting save-the-universe quest - all rolled into one. I won't be forgetting it anytime soon.
☆☆☆1/2
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