Co-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) bring Drew Goddard’s (The Martian) adaptation of novelist Andy Weir’s 2021 novel to the screen. Ryan Gosling stars as science teacher Ryland Grace, who awakens alone on a spaceship hurtling through space. With no memory of how he got there, we learn in flashbacks what his mission is and its importance to humanity. (156 min.)
Project Hail Mary
What’s it rated? PG-13
What’s it worth, Anna? Full price
What’s it worth, Glen? Full price
Where’s it showing? Regal Edwards RPX Santa Maria,
Movies Lompoc, Regal Edwards Arroyo Grande
Glen: Dear Project Hail Mary filmmakers, I enjoyed your movie very much, but I would have enjoyed it more had you trimmed the 30 or so minutes of fat off it. Too much of a good thing becomes less good. The Law of Diminishing Returns is real. That said, Gosling is reliably charming as Dr. Rylan Grace, a brilliant and maverick molecular biologist who was drummed out of the upper echelons of science because of his out-of-the-box thinking on the elements needed to form life. As his retrograde amnesia begins to wane, we discover through his memories when he was recruited for this mission to save the sun that he was reduced to a middle school teacher. His underdog status and road-less-traveled thinking is likeable, but we soon discover all he wants to do now is keep his head down and not make waves, so how the heck did this semi-coward end up an astronaut? That’s what the story slowly … and I mean slowly … explains.
Anna: Not only is Grace totally disoriented upon waking, he’s also totally alone. He discovers the bodies of his two crewmates and pieces together the stories of who they were in life back on Earth through their belongings. He’s in an understandable spiral when he comes upon another ship, not one built by NASA. While his first instinct is to flee from the alien vessel, his efforts are fruitless and soon it becomes a game of communication. Messages arrive with metal figures, and he starts to build a narrative of who his alien counterpart is. When the two finally meet, he finds a five-legged, rock-like creature that he names Rocky. The two learn to communicate, and soon the two have become a bonded team set to bring both of their home planets hope for a future. Ultimately, it is a story of friendship.
Glen: Unlike, say, the seriousness of Contact (1997) or Arrival (2016), Project Hail Mary takes a more tongue-in-cheek approach to alien contact—more E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) or Paul (2011). Rocky and Grace are both likeable and develop a rapport. They have different strengths, so they need each other to succeed. On their own, each would no doubt fail, but together, they’re strong. And like the characters of E.T. and Paul or even BB-8 or baby Groot, Rocky’s a cute little charmer who sees in Grace something Grace himself thought he long ago lost—his bravery and selflessness. Hail Mary is a crowd pleaser without a doubt, and my quibble about it being overlong isn’t going to hinder anyone from seeing it. Last Friday’s matinee was packed. For full effect, you definitely want to see this one in a theater.
Anna: It’s definitely meant for that venue, even if it means you’re going to have to park yourself, reclining in wide comfort, for the better part of an afternoon. Gosling knows how to play charming and funny, and his Grace becomes a more complicated character the more we get to know him through flashbacks. One of my favorite parts of the film is Sandra Hüller’s portrayal of Eva Stratt, the project manager and Grace’s recruiter. She’s very serious and very German. Grace is very much alone, and so is Rocky, and then the two aren’t so alone anymore because they have each other. It’s pretty darn sweet.
New Times Arts Editor Glen Starkey and freelancer Anna Starkey write Sun Screen. Comment at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in March 26 – April 2, 2026.