Phil Lord and Christopher Miller‘s ‘Project Hail Mary’: A Review
There is a great deal of joy to be had in watching people “do things”. In a heist film, we get to watch an elaborate plan come together. But there is a curious delight in watching a simple plan develop. The heist flick fascinates us with a Rube Goldberg chain of events flawlessly executed until something goes wrong, but, surprise, our protagonist had planned on that contingency all along. Another distinct joy is when we are brought to the edge of our seats watching a single person use his creativity and ingenuity to tinker his way through an impossible problem. When acting alone and for survival’s sake, the Robinsonade has us rooting for the protagonist in his desperation. We will watch our castaway try to make a fire for 10 minutes of screen time, agonizing over his failures and cheering his half-successes, holding our breath as tendrils of smoke rise from his makeshift bamboo base. We can watch him without a hint of dialogue because we all know what is at stake.
Project Hail Mary is a cousin to this genre. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, PHM is that rare form of entertainment where they actually do things. It is a story of resilience, ingenuity, and bravery that suddenly becomes a buddy film halfway through. It is an original piece in which the filmmakers showed the courage to tell a straightforward story involving the marvel of human tenacity without smothering it in irony. Its success is a confession that audiences are parched for this form of cinematic optimism.
When we are introduced to Dr. Ryland Grace, bearded and disheveled, he is waking up from hypersleep aboard a spacecraft. He isn’t in a personal survival mode (the spacecraft is taking care of his physical needs), but he is disoriented and confused and needs to make his way toward discovering his mission and carrying it out.
The movie switches back and forth between two timelines. The earthbound storyline introduces Grace, a middle school science teacher, who is roped into a worldwide effort to save the planet from an unknown force that is eating the sun. The space-faring storyline follows him on his mission to discover how to save the sun and all the people on Earth. Both storylines are packed full of Dr. Grace doing stuff. He pokes cells in a laboratory, builds experimental contraptions, writes equations, and spreadsheets. When he isn’t working, he is talking with his colleagues about the work he has done or plans to do. There is a five-minute sequence in which his task is to catch an object floating through space. It’s fantastic.
There is only one real action scene in this sci-fi movie (a breathtaking showstopper). The rest of the movie is concerned with two things: 1) The curiosity, ingenuity, and discovery involved in planetary survival. 2) How far we’d go to save a planet, and how far we’d go to save a friend. It’s rare for a film these days to have genuine surprises or unexpected delights, so I won’t spoil the answers it provides. My children were delighted at its joyous spirit and talked about it for days. If you haven’t seen it, you should do so as soon as possible.
What we see in PHM is something peculiarly unique. It is an original story, interesting in the details, and told well with grace and wit. It is a modern science fiction blockbuster that feels real because the filmmakers chose to lean into props, models, and physical special effects rather than the endless plasticity of computer graphics. It’s a high-concept hard science fiction flick that is also a buddy comedy. That is something special enough to recommend simply for the novelty. But it’s also well-made and fully entertaining.
It is also willing to dabble in allegory. While this is not a Christian film, it’s no accident that the term “Hail Mary” plays with dual meanings, both as a long-shot football play and as a prayer for intercession. Hurling toward the salvation of the world, the Hail Mary is full of (Ryland) Grace, and, in the end, it is by Grace that we are saved. This blends with themes of sacrifice and salvation to deliver an allegory that is neither heavy-handed nor heavy-handed, but suggestive and intellectually playful.
As I watched, I got the feeling that the creators of PHM could have made a choice early in development to go with a dialogue-sparse minimalist film with an eye toward more lingering visuals. This would perhaps have delivered a bit more wonder or grandeur. Instead, they chose a narrative rhythm in which we have the affable Mr. Gosling comically muttering his way through the majority of the movie. This isn’t bad, per se, but it tells us that we’re looking at a film that wants to be a cheerful blockbuster, not a piece of high-art science fiction.
Couldn’t it be both? It could be, and maybe it is, but it’s clear the writers and director chose to lean toward audience accessibility over pure art. When I reflect on it, I prefer their lean into the casual verbal humor, if for no other reason than it kept my kids’ attention in the theater. I might enjoy the austerity of a film like Kubrick’s 2001, but the decline in the casual use of psychedelics in the general population means that it would be hard to run a successful box office race with such an offering. The thing I care most about for PHM is that the film finds the success that it deserves.
Project Hail Mary has been a financial success, grossing over $430M at the box office so far, an impressive feat for a non-franchise movie. It has also been a critical success, rating sky-high in audience reviews. I haven’t seen an audience applaud the ending to a big-budget blockbuster since Top Gun: Maverick, which promoted similar themes of earnest heroism and a straightforward promotion of loyalty and sacrifice in service to a greater cause.
The movie is also notable for what it lacks. There are no spunky minority characters with a devil-may-care attitude who slyly show up the protagonist or shoot a bullseye within a bullseye in order to slap down Racism. The cast is already diverse, but in a way that makes sense for a story in which the fate of every nation in the world is at stake. This was tremendously refreshing, especially as it reminds us that the constant ham-handed insertion of these progressive mini-sermons really does interrupt our stories and demean the art.
There is no hint of anti-human sentiment in the movie, either—no character who suggests that maybe the planet would be better off without humans. The death of the earth is presented as a clear evil to be fought against with every dollar we have, every muscle fiber we can contract, and a will of steel so cold and resolute that it would terrify the citizens of a softer time. Eva Stratt, a Dutch woman deeply pragmatic who makes hard decisions to protect the planet, embodies this resolute leadership. She is severe in her actions, stating outright that she expects she will be punished for them.
I confessed to my kids that I disliked the implications of the bravery Stratt imposed on other characters, as she demanded sacrifices they would not have chosen for themselves. They disagreed. They admired the idea of an authority figure who puts so much faith in her subordinates that she forces them into a situation in which they feel unqualified and unprepared, yet expects them to excel regardless of their own doubts. Perhaps there is a message in there for me to ponder.
Overall, one thing is clear: we need more movies like this—original stories, original characters, movies that look real, filled with curiosity, optimism, and bravery, beautiful visuals, high stakes with threads of hope, desperation, and sacrifice presented in earnest, without irony or cynicism. Project Haily Mary is all of these things.
Matt Shapiro is a technologist, data scientist, and author living in Tennessee. He can be followed on X at @politicalmath.
