Ryan Gosling Carries The Weight of the World in ‘Project Hail Mary’

Ryan Gosling Carries The Weight of the World in ‘Project Hail Mary’

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Chad Kennerk is an entertainment writer, cinephile and experienced film critic. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from The Actors Studio in New York City, a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University, and attended the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. He serves as the Digital Editor of Film Review, and as an analyst/staff writer for Boxoffice Pro. Here is his five-star review of Project Hail Mary.

Project Hail Mary: A Five-Star Sci-Fi Triumph

Author Andy Weir’s debut science fiction novel, the highly scientifically accurate The Martian, originally appeared serialised on the author’s website – for free. Four years and a New York Times bestselling print edition later, the story was lighting up movie screens in the 2015 Ridley Scott film starring Matt Damon.

Despite being about a guy trapped alone on a planet, The Martian proved an unexpected original blockbuster, hauling in over $630 million worldwide. A decade after writing The Martian, Weir launched readers back into deep space with his 2021 novel, Project Hail Mary. An instant New York Times bestseller, the novel appeared on numerous 2021 book recommendation lists and took home multiple awards for fiction.

In early 2020, prior to the print release, Weir wisely sold the film adaptation rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $3 million. When Amazon MGM Studios acquired Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2022, they thankfully championed the project, continuing its trajectory to the big screen and rocketing off a first look at the start of their 2025 CinemaCon presentation.

Screenwriter Drew Goddard, who earned an Oscar nom for The Martian, returned to pen the adaptation. When the trailer debuted, the studio hailed it as the most-viewed trailer for an original movie ever, accumulating 400 million views globally in the first week.

The anticipated project from Amazon MGM brings the long-awaited adaptation of Project Hail Mary to the big screen – and it’s a touchdown. Full of grace, humour, and humanity, the sweeping sci-fi voyage proves that spectacle and thoughtful storytelling need not exist in separate galaxies.

Ryan Gosling Shines as Ryland Grace

Much of the film rests squarely on the shoulders of Ryan Gosling, who delivers an engaging performance as Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who wakes up alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. As fragments of his past slowly return, Grace realises he’s humanity’s last hope to stop a mysterious threat that is slowly killing the Sun.

Leaning heavily on one actor’s ability to hold an audience, Gosling proves himself the kind of cosmic leading man capable of taking audiences through a galaxy of emotions in what is essentially a one-man show.

The actor’s natural charm carries the film, as Grace balances existential dread with a healthy dose of humour. Watching Grace slowly piece together the reality of his situation is surprisingly funny, with Gosling leaning into the character’s everyman awkwardness.

This isn’t the first time Gosling has been to space, but unlike his take on the calm, quietly courageous Neil Armstrong in First Man, Gosling’s Grace is a regular joe thrust into extraordinary circumstances. And this won’t be Gosling’s last interstellar adventure, he also has Star Wars: Starfighter arriving in May 2027.

Miller and Lord’s Ambitious Epic

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – the guys behind The Lego Movie and the Spider-Verse trilogy – bring their playful sensibility to an ambitious space saga.

Screenwriter Drew Goddard once again demonstrates a knack for translating complex science into gripping, crowd-pleasing cinema. The directing duo turn Weir’s science-heavy story and Goddard’s slick script into a rousing piece of cinema without sacrificing the source material.

Much of the emotional core hinges on an unexpected relationship that develops during Grace’s mission, one that expands the story beyond a simple survival narrative into a kind of galactic buddy action road trip comedy.

Without going too far into spoiler territory, suffice to say that connection transforms Project Hail Mary from a solitary space thriller into a story about masculine friendships, empathy, and the universal drive to survive.

Even those unfamiliar with Weir’s novel will find themselves immersed in the stakes without getting lost in technical, sciency jargon.

In an era where blockbuster filmmaking often means familiar franchises, sequels, reboots, and requels, Project Hail Mary is a refreshing original. The optimistic sci-fi adventure trusts its audience to engage with big ideas while still delivering on visuals made for the biggest cinema screens. It’s clear Lord and Miller were shooting for the stars, and with Project Hail Mary, they’ve caught a bit of stardust. | Five stars ★★★★★

The Story Behind ‘Project Hail Mary’

Adapted from Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary follows biologist-turned-teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace as he searches for a way to stop our Sun from blinking out. Something from outside our solar system has been infecting stars and sapping them of their heat and light, and ours is next. Grace is sent on one final, hail-mary mission to solve the problem before humanity and everything we’ve ever created is lost. Of course, there are a few complications along the way, the biggest being that Grace can’t seem to remember anything.

What’s interesting about the way Weir writes his galaxy-ending threat is that it isn’t a Thanos-style evil alien bent on destruction, but an understandable natural process that can be thwarted with a bit of scientific know-how. That puts someone like Grace, who spent years as a molecular biologist before turning to teaching, into the role of hero. You can’t solve this problem with machismo and violence, and it’s that refreshing focus on ingenuity and intelligence that makes Weir’s work so enjoyable, both on the page and on the screen.

While the film rests largely on Gosling’s shoulders as Ryland Grace aboard the Hail Mary, we meet a few other characters throughout by way of flashbacks, recordings, and other interactions. Here’s the full cast list:

If the film leaves you wanting more of Weir’s writing, his novel Artemis hasn’t been turned into a film quite yet (though an adaptation is in the works), or you can always relive The Martian.