Project Hail Mary: Grace and Rocky Save Cinema!

Project Hail Mary released on the 20th of March, with Ryan Gosling starring as Ryland

Grace, the molecular biologist and reluctant hero of humanity alongside James Ortiz as

Rocky, the alien Grace encounters on his journey. The chemistry Gosling managed to have

with an alien rock was incredible, and it almost felt like watching two friends interact, with the connection deepening and becoming so endearing towards the end of the film that I found myself shedding puddles of tears over a sentient rock. The film takes place in a

nonchronological order, and flashes forwards and backwards as Grace regains his

memories.

It is a great story about sacrifice and duty, balanced perfectly with themes of isolation and

loneliness, as we learn that the trip was a suicide mission, with no intention of making it back to earth. Ryan Gosling was the perfect choice for this character as he excellently portrayed his character's inner conflict and growing desire to live. The film was successful at humanising the astronauts and scientists embarking on the journey into space by showing how much each person is sacrificing for the sake of humanity. Flashbacks throughout the film reveal that Grace was forced to go into space, despite revealing that he didn’t have much to leave behind.

His mission in space is to study why a microorganism called astrophage is feeding on almost every star in the universe, except Tau Ceti. As a sci-fi film, the science included in the film did not feel convoluted or too overcomplicated that a regular audience would feel

disconnected, instead it almost felt as if the film walked you through each step.

Due to the nature of the film, the cinematography is off the scale. The way the film captures

the beauty of outer space is so captivating that it feels real - it makes an audience yearn for

knowledge of what is out there. Certain details such as the Tau Ceti’s planet,

“Adrian” and the breathtaking Taumoeba collection scene cemented Project Hail Mary as one of the best films this year due to the amount of detail that was poured into each and every scene by Greig Fraser, the film's cinematographer.

I can see this film winning several awards, especially for Ryan Gosling’s performance and

the cinematography. Project Hail Mary is a fantastic film and the story was a refreshing

change from the usual “humanity is to blame” sci-fi films, with a happy ending for each

character involved. No doubt it is one of the best films this year.

Edited by Daisy Coombs