Earth is dying and the clock is ticking. Alone in a spacecraft light years away from his home, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is on a one way mission to try and save earth. This story makes the idea of contact with alien life feel less far away and more likely.
Spoilers ahead.
The original book was written by Andy Weir and was published in 2021. The book was considered to be “hard science fiction”, which is a genre of science fiction that focuses specifically on scientific accuracy and logical plausibility. “Project Hail Mary” became popular for not only its hard science, but also its witty humor and emotional threads of friendship and risk taking.
While putting it to screen was challenging as the book relies heavily on Grace’s internal monologue and slow-burn of scientific discovery. Instead of relying on his dialogue, we get to see what is being done instead of reading his thought process in his head. They also use many flashbacks to show Earth’s crisis. Many other things were added to make it more of an interesting film adaptation, they make the computer system Mary more of a role so that Grace can speak his thoughts out loud, as well as going more into his friendship with the alien Rocky to add more into the dialogue.
The expectations for the “Project Hail Mary” movie were high after the success of “The Martian” film adaptation from 2015. Many viewers expected the same type of problem solving type of movie but with a different storyline.
The story is mainly rooted in problem solving step-by-step instead of rushing it. It relies mainly on a methodical, more scientific approach. Grace tries to piece together everything one step at a time, like who he is and what he’s doing in space. It also relies heavily on the logic in human brains. It’s focused on curiosity and collaboration. It is more about the science rather than the action of a normal sci-fi movie.
The story of Ryland Grace is shown through memory loss, isolation and survival. His character is an ordinary but cowardly person who makes it into an extreme and extraordinary situation. Grace’s “unremarkable” character is turned into a story of human growth. The vehicles of memory loss, isolation and survival turn into a way to explore the greatness of his character. Many audiences feel an emotional connection to Grace. While in the beginning he is more timid and relatable, he turns into someone who finds immense purpose through friendship and is willing to sacrifice himself for Earth and for Rocky. Many sympathize with his character as he was forced into this situation and now has to solve it while alone in an unknown place. When he finds Rocky and goes through the movements of friendship, many feel for him. The humor and emotional aspects of the film connect with audiences. There are high aspects of trust, sacrifice and friendship in Grace’s character, making him loved by fans, along with Rocky.
While science is a foundational aspect of the movie, it is not too science heavy. It’s used more as a storytelling tool other than a main barrier of the story. They frame the science in a way where you do not need to understand the exact specifics of it to understand what is happening within the story.
While many believe in aliens, others believe they do not exist. Atrophage does not yet exist in our universe, but it is not too far out there. The initial aliens that are described in the story are tiny cells that are feeding off of stellar energy that causes stars to dim. It threatens Earth back into an ice age as it feeds on the sun. This microorganism is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, meaning it is made up of water. It uses the energy it gets from the sun to travel to Venus’ atmosphere and reproduce due to the carbon dioxide. Even though it doesn’t seem too far out there, it does not currently align with our understanding of energy storage mechanics in cells and seems implausible at this time. Though it’s possible in our world, it may not work the exact same way. We are always finding new cells and forms of life, so how can we be so sure?
The argument of aliens has been going on for years, and this story shows a lovable alien named Rocky. Though Rocky is seen as scientifically plausible in hard science fiction, the belief of Rocky is argumentative based on your belief in aliens. He looks different, lives different, and speaks differently. He isn’t the stereotypical image of an alien, but he’s believable the way he is. Him living far away from Earth and having different norms than us is plausible. He is able to live in a different atmosphere than humans, meaning that he does not need a “livable” planet in our terms. Rocky is able to thrive in a different environment than humans, as he lives in a high-pressure and high-gravity atmosphere. It’s not hard to believe that there is a totally different species far off in a different galaxy than us that we do not know about due to not having that extent to our technology.
The planet that Rocky is from, 40 Eridani Ab also called Keid, is actually a real planet. It is considered a candidate for a “super-earth” exoplanet. Though it is controversial due to the fact it is unconfirmed and may be a false positive. It is located in the 40 Eridani star system and orbits 40 Eridani A, which is a main-sequence star meaning 40 Eridani A is in the most stable and longest phase of its life. Since we do not know much about this planet, there is no deniability if there is some sort of life there.
The star that they go to investigate, the Tau Ceti, is also real. Tau Ceti is a sun-like star that is located in the Cetus and is 11.9 light years away from Earth. Though they do not go too into the star itself in the story, they still cover the basics of it. It’s a single star that looks remarkably similar to the sun, but it is far away from us. It is one of our closest cosmic stars.
The thinking and science in the is presented in a perfectly plausible way. Even though we do not have any evidence of things like astrophage or Rocky, they don’t feel like they aren’t far stretched from reality.
Though the story may not be fully implanted into our current reality, it is still amaze, amaze, amaze!
