‘Project Hail Mary’ Review: Ryan Gosling and a Rock Make Sci-Fi Magic
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller made us believe that a short kids' picture book could spiral into a feature adaptation in name only and still be good. They also showed us that an ‘80s crime series could be turned into a hilarious R-rated duology, and that you could make an anti-fascist statement out of Legos. With their adaptation of Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary, Lord and Miller craft an Interstellar-quality sci-fi epic by way of a Jim Henson movie to make you believe Ryan Gosling and an alien puppet rock can make you bawl. It’s like putting Gosling in the “one human actor, rest of the cast are muppets” meme template. Though it feels rather broad and light compared to films like Interstellar and The Martian, which share screenwriter Drew Goddard, it's an emotionally riveting and eye-popping cinematic experience.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
MPA Rating: PG13 (For some thematic material and suggestive references.)
Runtime: 2 Hours and 36 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: Pascal Pictures, General Admission, Lord Miller Productions
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios
Director: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Screenwriter: Drew Goddard
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, Lionel Boyce, Ken Leung, Milana Vayntrub, Priya Kansara
U.S Release Date: March 20, 2026
After awaking alone from hypersleep aboard the Hail Mary spacecraft millions of light-years from Earth, Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) struggles to recollect his memory while realizing he may be humanity’s last hope. Through flashbacks, Grace recalls his life as a Grover Cleveland Middle School science teacher recruited by NASA official Eva Stratt (a superb Sandra Hüller) for a desperate mission, “Project Hail Mary,” to stop a mysterious star-devouring organism that threatens to wipe out Earth within 30 years. Initially reluctant to join the mission, if not outright rejecting his call to action, feeling he's unqualified, Grace eventually becomes central to the effort. While drifting through space in the present timeline, he encounters a crystallized alien ship. He forms an unlikely friendship with a spider-like extraterrestrial with impeccable engineering skills, whom he names Rocky. Grace creates a system for them to communicate and discovers that the two are working toward the same goal: saving their respective planets from extinction.
Lord and Miller Scale Up Their Craft for the Cosmos
Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace in PROJECT HAIL MARY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Jonathan Olley © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
When I was in college, I prepared a presentation about how Lord and Miller were my favorite modern filmmakers. It remains true, as I'm always amazed by their range and skill. With Project Hail Mary, the duo's range expands; their new undertaking feels as if Ridley Scott was secretly two kids in a trench coat – and those kids were Lord and Miller. The film’s scope and scale are epic and immense, blending breathtaking, realistic CGI with colorful cosmic backdrops in lavish, practical sets involving puppetry. Framestore’s impressive VFX and Creature Supervisor Neal Scanlan/ILM’s creature work on Rocky, with exceptional puppetry and a terrific performance from Jim Ortiz as both puppeteer and voice, gives the film a tactile, lived-in quality. This is amplified by the gratifying technical aspects of the sound mixing and sweeping intergalactic visuals that are worth the IMAX 70mm experience.
The team they assembled is responsible for a significant portion of the craft. DP Greig Fraser (Dune: Part One and Two, The Creator) continues to reign as the king of space cinema, delivering vast, sci-fi planetary imagery enhanced by an intimate, handheld vérité style. Composer Daniel Pemberton’s score complements it beautifully, shifting from synth-driven cues during Grace’s Earthbound science problem-solving to thunderous percussion and orchestral swells that propel the film’s explosive space sequences.
Lord and Miller’s animation instincts are still embedded throughout, particularly in the comedy. Rocky’s fully realized alien behavior becomes a constant source of comedy, while his friendship with Gosling’s Grace forms the film’s emotional core. Those skills also carry to the action, which grows increasingly intense as a big sci-fi spectacle.
The result is a sci-fi epic with an organic, almost retro sensibility baked into its filmmaking DNA. Stylistically, Lord and Miller work in the familiar rhythms of 2010s studio sci-fi, hitting the contemporary blockbuster beats in a way that sits comfortably alongside Interstellar and The Martian. It may feel a little old-school in the 2020s, but the filmmaking is so precise – and so rare in today’s landscape – that the throwback approach feels earned. Moreover, its familiar presentation style could not be any different from the lead himself.
Rocky & Grace’s friendship makes Project Hail Mary soar.
Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace and Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt in PROJECT HAIL MARY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Jonathan Olley © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Though I have no familiarity with Weir’s novel, I did appreciate Project Hail Mary’s unique identity as a heartwarming hangout buddy film. The film is a grand spectacle, but it really blasts off with Grace and Rocky’s relationship. The sincere growing attachment becomes something special as their bond unfolds through their bridging of communication and skill, along with charming banter and tear-jerking emotions. Whether it’s through his excited little chitters or the broken computer translations Grace builds for him, Rocky quickly captures your heart. The affection is genuinely earned and disarmingly cute. Even Elmo would cry over that damn rock.
Ryan Gosling’s charm remains unmatched, as it's the kind of presence needed to carry a film of this nature. Before Rocky's metallic ship arrives, most of the film rests on Grace talking to himself – confessing, narrating, and navigating the isolation of the spacecraft as he slowly pieces together his identity. In lesser hands, that could easily become grating, but Gosling never lets it tip into irritation. Through Grace, Gosling captures the vulnerability, curiosity, and moral weight of someone confronting humanity’s place in the universe – turning the character into both an everyman and a quiet call to action.
Grace reflects the reluctant hero within our cynical age.
Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace in PROJECT HAIL MARY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Jonathan Olley © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
In contrast to other sci-fi heroes, like Interstellar’s Cooper, who ventures into the unknown for the sake of humanity and discovery, knowing the sacrifice of giving up his family, Grace is externally a cynical coward. With no family to call his own, you’d think he’d have the will to go into space for the sake of the planet's future. Nope, he’s got no courage because the man is a cowardly dog. However, Goddard’s script feels strikingly reflective of our moment. Grace has the tools to make a difference; the Earth flashbacks center on him working towards a solution to the antimatter issue, replete with occasionally confusing but never alienating dialogue. He initially lacks the conviction, embodying a cynicism and hopelessness that many people fall into today.
The film threads this idea effectively through flashbacks that reveal his reluctance, giving the story a tragic undercurrent. Yet, it also makes his relationship with Rocky, the first living thing he truly learns to care for, ever more beautiful.
When paired with Rocky, Gosling enters the rare “puppet scene partner” hall of fame alongside Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol, never letting the fact that he’s acting opposite a puppet disrupt the sincerity of his performance. His commitment to building a gradual, affectionate friendship with this animatronic creation feels completely natural, and the chemistry translates beautifully on screen. It stands as one of the stronger performances of his career.
Project Hail Mary is overly long, and while it can be deeply affecting, the film leans on a few emotional fake-outs that become repetitive in the latter half. By the third time it deploys the same sentimental beat, the effect begins to feel cloying, slightly dulling the powerful emotions it built earlier. The constant intercutting between past and present can also feel thematically uneven at times, occasionally undercutting the narrative momentum. At 2 hours and 36 minutes, the film feels like it’s stretching itself to meet a blockbuster runtime when a tighter cut might have served better.
FINAL STATEMENT
Project Hail Mary is a meticulously crafted, hopeful, and dazzling space epic that proves the most moving friendship in film this year might just be between Ryan Gosling and a rock.
