Project Hail Mary (dirs. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller)
By: Adam Freed
In the summer of 1995 movie theaters across the globe were packed to the rafters with audiences waiting in anticipation of Ron Howard’s captivating true-to-life space exploration Apollo 13. At one of the blockbuster film’s defining crisis points, Tom Hanks’ Jim Lovell utters the legendary phrase, “Houston, we have a problem.” In that moment, the collective gasp and forward lean from theatergoers was palpable. The grip and gravity of Howard’s humanistic otherworldly story implanted in young audiences both the power and peril of space exploration. A little more than three decades later, visionary storytellers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse) harness the same pensive energy in their effervescent adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 science fiction novel Project Hail Mary. Armed with a healthy production budget from Amazon MGM and the attractive glow of superstar Ryan Gosling, Lord & Miller have crafted the first must-watch science fiction theatrical experience in what feels like ages.
Project Hail Mary deviates from what one may expect of a “doomed Earth” film in that it is told in time-jumping non-linear fashion. While Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan may have cornered the market on this type of cross-cut storytelling, Andy Weir’s screenplay lends itself perfectly to the unconventional unveiling of the film’s central conflict. In fact, the only conventional thing about Project Hail Mary is its almost complete reliance on the performance of its singular star Ryan Gosling. Gosling (Barbie, La La Land) lures audiences into the proceedings by leaning into his effortless sense of humor. The star’s self-deprecating presentation is lovable, and in combination with Lord & Miller’s famed comedic sensibilities, Gosling is clearly the perfect man to set the story’s hook. The story, one that should be protected from those who haven’t read Weir’s novel, follows a reluctant scientist tasked with accomplishing the unthinkable in a mission that, as the film’s title would suggest, has a very low probability of success. Where Project Hail Mary elevates into orbit is the emotional weight that Gosling is capable of bearing as the dramatic stakes of his mission, light years away from Earth, finally take hold.
There have been, and always will be visual limitations to what a space adventure can provide due to the close confines of a space shuttle’s interior. The claustrophobic nature of Gosling’s environs are beautifully counterbalanced by sweeping and visually stimulating vistas of life beyond Earth’s solar system. Project Hail Mary is the rare space exploration in which experiencing it in IMAX is a must. Accompanying the masterful visuals of acclaimed cinematographer Greig Fraser (Dune: Part One, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is a shockingly resonant and triumphant score composed by Daniel Pemberton (The Trial of the Chicago 7, Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse). Pemberton’s composition, easily the best of his impressive career, should be an early leader in the clubhouse for next year’s awards consideration. While not every scene of Project Hail Mary feels as pressing as the last, those that include project director Eva Stratt, played by an intriguingly icy Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest), sizzle with intrigue. Her clear-eyed and matter-of-fact presentation of events offers a necessary counterpunch to Gosling’s less ambitious and more amorphous existence while on Earth. The equation seems to all add up for Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. From Andy Weir’s outstanding source material to Greig Fraser’s impressive cinematography, Daniel Pemberton’s dynamic score and a pair of memorable performance achievements by Sandra Hüller and Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary is a film that goes beyond being worthy of praise, it is worthy of global support.
Target Score: 9/10 - Movie theaters were built for the presentation of films like Project Hail Mary. Offering just about anything a movie lover could ask for in large format, big budget filmmaking, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller have once again created something that audiences will not expect, but will come to find they somehow needed.