Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s “Project Hail Mary” released March 20 to rave reviews from audience members and critics alike.
The film follows two different timelines. In the present, Ryland Grace [Ryan Gosling] is in space with a spotty memory of how he ended up there, and the film intermittently flashes back to the story of how he ended up there.
The movie follows Grace – a doctoral scientist turned middle school teacher – as he is yanked from his everyday life into a government secret after the leader of the experiment, Eva Stratt [Sandra Hüller], gets her hands on a paper that he published about extraterrestrial life.
Grace meets a new friend, Rocky, who is from another planet that is having the same issue that put Grace in space; particles called “Astrophage” eating the sun.
The film showcases a masterful mix of drama and comedy, bringing laughter when it was appropriate. “Project Hail Mary” begins with a big laugh from the audience and the humor continues throughout the movie, but also lets the heavy moments breathe as the story progresses.
The two form a seemingly inseparable bond as they attempt to save their respective planets.
There is a point in the movie where the characters are doing karaoke, and Stratt steps up and performs “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles, a perfect song pull. At this point in the film, the audience is fully able to grasp everything that is at stake and the song lyrics perfectly encapsulate the heaviness of the project.
“Sign of the Times” also marks the point where “Project Hail Mary” enters its climax. Everything picks up after that, and emotions – once again – begin to run high. This is the point of the movie where I started crying and never stopped, causing me to have a nosebleed in the theater.
“Project Hail Mary” leaves the audience suspended in emotion as the rollercoaster of events takes place, leaving them waiting for answers as the plot surges forward.
On top of the heavy emotions, the movie brings practical effects to life. One of the main characters, Rocky, is a rock creature that is portrayed by puppeteers, with James Ortiz being the main performer.
Ortiz also voiced Rocky, though that was not the original plan. Lord and Miller enjoyed the way that he voiced the lines on set during filming and felt that Ortiz understood the character and enjoyed his ability to play off of Gosling’s energy on set.
One of the most stunning scenes of the film features Grace floating in a sea of Astrophage, which looks like red sparkles. In order to pull this off the crew took the filters that block infrared light out of the cameras and had Gosling act out the scene on a stage with inferred light lined chicken wire and water dripping on the camera lens to create the effect.
On top of the practical effects, there were also some very fun camera effects incorporated into “Project Hail Mary.” There were a lot of shots where it looked like the camera was on its side – one in particular where Grace was lying on the ground and it felt as if the audience was lying down with him.
The movie also had portions where it was filmed almost as a vlog. Grace would film little videos to send back to Earth and when he would do this, the audience would be watching through the eyes of that camera rather than watching Grace film himself.
The costumes were also very thought out, Gosling was fitted in numerous nerdy science shirts with jokes on them, such as “I had potential” with an image of a ball that had rolled down a hill.
“Project Hail Mary” is one of the all-around best films to release in quite a while. It serves as a masterclass in practical effects, acting and camera work.
Gosling’s new project did not disappoint after he said, “It’s not your job to keep theaters open, it’s our job to make things that make it worth you coming out.”
“Project Hail Mary” is showing in theaters now.