'Project Hail Mary' Review: Ryan Gosling's Sci-Fi Epic Is the First Great Film of 2026
Ross is a Tomatometer-approved critic, a member of the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association, and a member of the Critics Choice Association. He has loved movies ever since he saw Cinderella in the theater as a kid, he can quote 10 Things I Hate About You and Wet Hot American Summer from memory, and is fascinated by all things Georges Méliès and Charlie Chaplin.
Over the course of their careers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have proven they can do anything. In the early 2000s, they made a name for themselves as the creators of the strange yet ambitious animated series, Clone High, which parodied teen dramas of the time, with a school full of clones of famous historical figures. At the movies, they turned the kids’ book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs into an epic disaster comedy, made funny buddy comedies out of an ‘80s police procedural with 21 Jump Street and its sequel, and somehow, made building blocks into one of the best comedies of the 2010s with The Lego Movie. But believe it or not, it’s been 12 years since Lord and Miller last directed a film, with 2014’s 22 Jump Street.
Since then, the duo has done their fair share of writing and producing for the movies, most notably on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse, and The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. They’ve also continued to do great work in TV, with Miller creating the Apple TV+ series The Afterparty and both executive producing and directing shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Last Man on Earth. Yet it’s impossible to talk about the last decade of Lord and Miller without at least bringing up their work on Solo: A Star Wars Story, a film they were brought on to direct, but they left the project after a few months because Lucasfilm didn't like the comedic approach they had to the origin story.
Thankfully, Lord and Miller are finally back with Project Hail Mary, and it’s an incredible encapsulation of what makes these two directors so great. Working with a script by Drew Goddard, based on the book of the same name by Andy Weir (Goddard previously adapted Weir’s The Martian as well), Project Hail Mary is a grand space movie that manages to feel original while paying homage to the films that came before it (while also proving they probably would’ve been incredible for Solo). Lord and Miller have created a film that is awe-inspiring, truly hilarious, genuinely emotional, and with a fantastic lead performance by Ryan Gosling that makes the film sing. Project Hail Mary isn’t just a welcome return for Lord and Miller as film directors; it’s also the first great movie of 2026.
Ryan Gosling Tries To Save the World From Space in ‘Project Hail Mary’
When we first meet Ryland Grace (Gosling), he finds himself awoken from an induced coma on a space station with no idea how he got there, and finds that his only two crewmates have died. Before long, Ryland discovers that he is a science teacher who has been sent on a mission to save Earth. A substance known as astrophage has caused our sun to start dying out, leaving us only a few decades before all hell breaks loose. If he can’t figure out what’s going on with this astrophage and how to make it go away, Earth is essentially done for.
But it turns out that Earth isn’t the only planet that is having astrophage problems. Soon after Ryland wakes up, he comes across another ship with a sole survivor — an alien that almost looks like a spider made of rock who he decides to name Rocky (puppeted and voiced by James Ortiz). Ryland and Rocky are the last hopes for both of their respective planets, and together, they try to solve the astrophage problem that is impacting stars all over the galaxy.
Project Hail Mary also occasionally gives us glimpses of Ryland’s life on Earth in the period before he ended up in space. He is brought into this project to save the world by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), his stone-faced superior, who doesn’t really get his sense of humor. We also meet Yáo Li-Jie (Ken Leung) and Olesya Ilyukhina (Milana Vayntrub), who will be crewmembers on the Hail Mary. As Ryland figures out what he’s doing in space, these flashbacks give us a deeper understanding of what led to the situation Ryland finds himself in, and how dire his quest truly is.
'Project Hail Mary' Is a Stunning Film That’s Also Very, Very Funny
Lord and Miller, along with Goddard, find a great balance for Project Hail Mary. Since Goddard has adapted Weir’s work in the past, he knows how to make this science-heavy story work cinematically and actually be quite engaging. Project Hail Mary isn’t as invested in the minutiae of the details of survival as much as The Martian was, which allows this to have quite a bit more fun with the larger concept at hand.
Project Hail Mary never undercuts the reality of this situation and how dire it is, but it also allows for plenty of levity and fun throughout the story, particularly in the friendship that brews between Ryland and Rocky. From perfectly-timed cuts to great jokes and fun character dynamics between Ryland and characters who don’t “get” his sense of humor, Lord and Miller make this into a riotous comedy that’s also extremely serious narratively. Lord, Miller, and Goddard find just the right mixture of humor, heart, and stakes in a way that makes all three equally effective.
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This might sound strange when it comes to a space action-comedy, but Project Hail Mary manages to ground its story and bring a sense of realism to it thanks to the fact that the film doesn't rely heavily on green screen. The ships feel real, Rocky is puppeted on set, and it makes this entire story more lived-in and practical. For the most part, Project Hail Mary focuses on Rocky and Ryland trying to figure things out, both their language barrier and how to save their worlds — it doesn’t need ridiculous, over-the-top effects to make this impactful, and the film is better off without them.
It’s also fantastic to see Lord and Miller working at this level and scope, and it’s been a long time coming. While their movie comedies have remained relatively grounded, their animated features have always been grand and wildly ambitious. Now granted, Project Hail Mary doesn’t throw us into a world of Unikitties and double-decker couches, but it is still truly exciting to see Lord and Miller go to this level and thrive, creating a dire, realistic world that’s also a blast to experience. It’s always been obvious that Lord and Miller could do great things in live-action movie comedies, but Project Hail Mary proves it in spades.
Ryan Gosling Is Fantastic as a Scientist in Over His Head in 'Project Hail Mary'
As Ryland Grace, Ryan Gosling is a perfect choice to lead this project. He’s an actor who can absolutely nail the more serious, potentially life-ending stakes of this story, but he can also be hysterical alongside literally anyone. Films like Barbie, The Nice Guys, and The Fall Guy have shown Gosling’s comedic side before, but mixing that with the more grounded side of this story gives Gosling one of his best roles so far. Gosling has been a great lead, and he’s been a great comedic foil, and Project Hail Mary blends these two sides in a way that’s highly effective.
And while Gosling is great on his own, thankfully, he’s given some fantastic co-stars to play with. Hüller is a great straight man for Gosling on Earth, and her inability to read his jokes as humor makes them such a fun dynamic to watch. As Toni Erdmann showed us, Hüller is great in this mode, and hopefully, she gets to be in more comedies soon — even if she is fantastic in films like Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest.
But the real heart of Project Hail Mary comes in Ryland’s relationship with Rocky and how this pair assists each other. Ortiz, who puppets Rocky on set and is also Rocky’s computer-translated voice, matches Ryland’s energy. This dynamic is a delight to watch, and beautifully hits on the film’s themes that we’re all in this together. It might be too early to say this is one of the best human-alien relationships ever portrayed in a movie, but few have been as moving and sweet as this friendship is.
Project Hail Mary is the type of rousing, exciting blockbuster filmmaking that we rarely see these days, at least not at the levels that Lord and Miller are working at here. This is the kind of grand adventure that’ll have you bowled over laughing one minute and tearing up the next before making you applaud the experience as the credits roll. Lord and Miller have created a new sci-fi classic, an incredible adaptation of Weir’s novel, and a film that deserves to be a part of 2027 Oscar consideration already. With Project Hail Mary, Lord and Miller have crafted a film that’s truly out of this world in every possible way.
Project Hail Mary comes to theaters on March 20.
- Release Date
- March 20, 2026
- Runtime
- 156 Minutes
- Director
- Christopher Miller, Phil Lord
- Writers
- Drew Goddard, Andy Weir
- Producers
- Ryan Gosling, Amy Pascal, Andy Weir, Aditya Sood, Christopher Miller, Phil Lord, Rachel O'Connor
Cast
-
Ryland Grace -
Sandra HüllerEva Stratt
Based on the novel by Andy Weir (The Martian), Project Hail Mary is an action-adventure sci-fi film that stars Ryan Gosling as an astronaut who must save Earth from an oncoming ice age by heading to a faraway galaxy.
- Christopher Miller and Phil Lord excel at this type of grand, ambitious filmmaking, and they finally show that in live-action.
- Ryan Gosling is a perfect lead for this story, bringing both pathos and big laughs throughout.
- The relationship between Ryland and Rocky might go down as one of the great human-alien friendships in movies.
- The choice for more practical special effects grounds this story effectively.
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