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PROJECT HAIL MARY – Daniel Pemberton
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE FILM, YOU MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER WAITING UNTIL AFTER YOU HAVE DONE SO TO READ IT.
One of the most anticipated films of the first quarter of 2026, Project Hail Mary is a science fiction drama directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and adapted by Drew Goddard from the popular novel by Andy Weir. Ryan Gosling stars as Ryland Grace, a science teacher who wakes up alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there. As his memories slowly return, he realizes that he’s part of a last-ditch mission to save Earth from a microorganism called astrophage, which is draining the sun’s energy and threatening a global ice age. Though not an astronaut, Ryland was recruited for his scientific expertise by former space agency administrator Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), and must now rely on his knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics to survive and carry out the mission. As he pieces together his past through flashbacks, he also works through immediate challenges aboard the ship, using experimentation and critical thinking to better understand the threat. Eventually, the mission takes him to a distant star system that appears unaffected by the astrophage, offering hope for a solution – but upon his arrival, he unexpectedly encounters an alien he names Rocky, whose species is facing a similar crisis. Despite their vast differences in biology and communication, Grace and Rocky form a cooperative partnership built on shared scientific curiosity and problem-solving, and together they try to save their respective worlds. Read more…
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