Project Hail Mary

Contrary to the movies, heroism is scarce. People do not usually risk their lives to save the world. The opportunities where this is possible are, thankfully, rare; more regretfully, the people who would do so are few and far between. “Project Hail Mary,” the Ryan Gosling science-fiction apocalyptic averting adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name, looks for this bravery in unexpected places.

Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a man with a PhD in molecular biology, which he no longer uses. His theories—and his facetious persona—were too much for his last employer. Now he teaches science to high school students, though Drew Goddard’s adapted screenplay never connects any emotional dots between Grace and his students. Meanwhile, still practicing scientists discover that the sun is dying, and it has something to do with an infrared line of radiation, the Petrova Line, connecting the sun and Venus. 

As the bad news reaches the public, a woman with a thick German accent shows up at his school, Eva Stratt (an underutilized Sandra Hüller), and demands Grace’s assistance as she cites his dissertation. They have a sample of Astrophage, a microorganism from the line whose name literally means “star killer.” It is going from star to star, sucking the life out of each, not unlike a consciousness-less Galactus, and they need Grace to analyze the specimen. 

The film bounces between two timelines and two adjoining locations. The first timeline follows Grace’s transition from school teacher to an indispensable part of a global government alliance, working to save the sun from an infection called Project Hail Mary. The second timeline is where we spend much more time: Grace wakes up on the ship as the lone survivor of three astronauts sent to investigate Tau Ceti, the only known star unaffected by Astrophage. Once in orbit, he makes contact with alien life. After establishing peaceful relations with a Geodude-like being, which he names Rocky. The two work together to build a communication system and to study the star killer plaguing both their planets. 

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