Project Hail Mary (2026)

Good fun - Project Hail Mary review by JR

For fans of Andy Weir's books, the conversion to the big screen is not as good as The Martian but still good fun.

If you haven't read the book it probably feels a bit long, if you have, it misses out detail, a typical problem with book conversions to film. The comedy can come across as a bit slapstick, and was hit-and-miss. The story is faithful to the book, but it doesn't quite manage to convey the emotional parts. Generally I think it's not the easiest book to convert, but the film does a decent job and Ryan Gosling plays the part well.

Grief Interruptus - Project Hail Mary review by griggs

I wanted to be floored by this. A science teacher waking from a coma, alone on a spaceship with two dead colleagues beside him, is a properly grim setup. But Phil Lord and Christopher Miller keep reaching for the pressure-release valve. Every time Project Hail Mary gets near real sorrow, a gag barges in and lets the air out. Grace’s eulogies should sting; instead they just sit there.

Gosling sells the bewilderment well, but the film won’t let a feeling land before the next bit crashes through — “at least he’s not growing in me” and so on. Rocky brings real warmth, though even that relationship gets laid on too thick. It’s also a good 45 minutes too long, forever serving up ending after ending, with fake-outs that should sting but just fizzle.

Sandra Hüller, meanwhile, does more with one dry look and a karaoke performance than most of the cast manage with pages of business. Two and a half hours of forced buoyancy, and the biggest laugh belongs to the one person refusing to play the game. That feels about right.

Big SciFi...A Bit Silly - Project Hail Mary review by GI

Visually spectacular in places this science fiction film entertains because the screen charisma of star Ryan Gosling, who carries this film which drifts into silliness at times so it lacks the gravitas the narrative implies, the saving of the Earth. Gosling plays Grace, a brilliant scientist who has been sidelined by the scientific community for his theories on the origins of life and resorts to being a humble school teacher. This is a role he loves though so being recruited by icy Government scientist, Eva (Sandra Hüller) to be part of a team trying to save the world ends up with him being a very reluctant astronaut. The film begins with Grace awakening from a deep coma aboard the space craft with no memories. He soon gets them back though and the reasons are told in flashback sequences which helps break up the story especially where it risks becoming a bit dull. Ultimately this is a story of friendship, tolerance and difference centred around Grace's relationship with a strange alien that he encounters who is on the same mission for his planet. Nicknamed Rocky, due to his rock like appearance, they bond and resolve the problems, obviously. Rocky is a bit ETish and occasionally the comedy injected into the film is tiresome and only just manages to keep the film from farce because of Gosling's persona. He is eminently watchable as a screen star and carries this film only occasionally drifting, for me, too far into slapstick. There's a charm to the main storyline though and the film doesn't try for awe or tragedy making it more of a family space adventure than a serious save-the-world epic.