Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing the sun, and save Earth. An unexpected friendship may be the key. (from IMDb)

Project Hail Mary is a sci-fi adventure tale from author Andy Weir, who also brought us The Martian, which was turned into a blockbuster film in 2015. Project Hail Mary has been a popular book since its release in 2021, but the film version has actually been in development for 6 years now. Directors Phil Lord & Christopher Miller have made a name for themselves mostly in animation, with family-friendly hits like The LEGO Movie and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but they also are responsible for the cult classic R-rated comedies, 21 Jump Street and its sequel. The pair were attached to the 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story, but were fired due to "creative differences" and replaced by Ron Howard as director. Project Hail Mary feels kind of like reparations for the duo. The resulting film is a heartfelt, inspiring space journey that is both epic and intimate in its delivery. It's kind of like what you might get if Gravity, Arrival, Solo and Passengers were thrown into a blender.

Project Hail Mary is Ryan Gosling's show. Gosling portrays Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher whose theories about alien life in space gets the attention of NASA when a space crisis threatens life on Earth. The film opens with him waking up alone on a ship in space with no memory, his fellow crewmates deceased, and confusion about why he's even there. As he starts remembering who he is and what his mission is, we see flashbacks to his time on earth, giving us a peek into the character and the story. He then suddenly comes in contact with an alien spaceship and meets an alien lifeform -- a rock-like creature that communicates through complex musical tones and sounds. Without giving too much away, the story then kind of becomes a buddy film as the unlikely pair work together to solve the crisis that is impacting both of their species.

Gosling has proven to be quite a versatile actor through the years. While a film like First Man showed him as especially stoic and kind of dry, last year's The Fall Guy showed his much more comedic side. Project Hail Mary finds his performance a lot closer to the latter, delivering a well-rounded character that's equally charming, funny, serious and relatable. While the book is largely serious (according to my wife who has enjoyed the audiobook several times) due to its planet-wide threat, Lord & Miller lace the film with quite a bit of humor - as might be expected. I have loved their animated films, so I was anticipating Project Hail Mary to feel much like them, and I was happy to find that there was just the right amount of that fun feel here.

The film has also been marketed to faith-based media, which surprised me. I was definitely curious about this, and I really only found one scene to even lightly address this. A character briefly reveals their faith in God, which feels disconnected from much of the rest of the film, but it wasn't an unwelcomed sentiment. There's also a gospel song from Tina Turner that plays as the end credits begin, which adds to the quasi-spiritual marketing of the film (I didn't catch the name of the song, but it clearly sings about Jesus). The movie, as a whole, is largely family-friendly, with just the loss of Grace's crewmates and the global threat being the things that warrant the film's PG-13 rating. There's almost no profanity in the film at all, surprisingly, with just 7 uses of "Oh my G-d," a use of "p*ss" and a "What the fff...udge" being the extent of the film's language. The rating is also awarded for "suggestive references," but they're minor, relatively subtle and would easily go over the head of young ones.

While Gosling is essentially the main face you'll see for the bulk of the film, there are a few other characters scattered throughout. Sandra Hüller plays Eva Stratt, a specialist who recruits Ryland and is basically his handler for the mission. While I don't think I've seen Hüller in any other films or shows, her performance is solid. In fact, all of the cast members - despite having limited screen time - are all great, which just adds to the strength of the film. Daniel Pemberton's score is also excellent - effectively adding to the fun elements as well as the more emotional ones. It's one I look forward to checking out as a soundtrack apart from the film when it releases.

I guess if there was only one drawback to the film, I'd say that it does start to feel a bit long with its runtime. Part of me didn't want the film to end - especially since Grace and Rocky are so enjoyable to watch together - but at just over 2 and a half hours, the movie feels as though it should have ended sooner than it does. Still, the minutes don't exactly feel wasted either, and I'm eager to see how the movie fares on subsequent watches.

Project Hail Mary may be the first great movie of 2026. It's certainly not for everyone, but those who enjoy sci-fi, action comedies, drama, and Ryan Gosling are sure to enjoy this one. If you loved the book, you're likely to enjoy it's translation to the screen. I'm glad Lord & Miller kept the movie rather family-friendly, too, as it ends up feeling more wholesome and accessible than other films clearly aimed at younger audiences (like the Transformers films, for example). Definitely check out Project Hail Mary when it releases this month.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 3/1/26)