Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing the sun, and save Earth. An unexpected friendship may be the key.

THE LEGACY CINEMA CLUB SPOTLIGHT MOVIE OF THE MONTH: On March 23rd, it’s back to space with the writer from the Martian directed by superstar directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The LEGO Movie, Spider-Man: Into [and Across] the Spider-Verse. And this unknown guy is the star, some Gosling kid. Join us!

While I love seeing any movie I can on the big screen, there are those movies that are designed to be seen on the biggest screen possible. Whether it’s for the beautiful imagery, the stunning performances or the amazing sound, the best in theater experiences are when a movie is firing on all those cylinders. This is the case with Project Hail Mary, a beautiful visual feast that manages to make the claustrophobic feel expansive and anchored by a true leading man performance from Ryan Gosling.

Written by Drew Goddard based on the novel by Andy Weir, the same team behind The Martian, another reality-grounded sci-fi film anchored by man stuck in isolation away from Earth, it may feel like well-worn territory. But despite that similar setup, Hail Mary is a much different experience, both bleaker and more hopeful. Gosling is Ryland Grace, a disgraced scientist teaching the planets to grade schoolers. Only he doesn’t remember that when he wakes up in a spaceship with a dead crew and no memory of what he’s doing there. Cut to the recent past when a disturbing discovery shows that the sun is losing energy, and Grace is called in to help the global team led by Stratt (Oscar-nominee Sandra Huller).  

The film jumps between Grace in development on land, and Grace working the problem in space. Eventually he gets help from an alien creature he dubs Rocky, because he looks like a big rock (with five limbs). The alien discovery is still fascinating even though the trailers revealed more of it than necessary. The space side serves buddy cop energy and carries surprising emotional weight. With true end-of-the-world stakes, and increasing tension, the film shifts into a multitude of wavelengths: wondrous, scary, hopeful, funny, dark, tense, sad. Gosling is one of the few actors who can be engaging for two-and-a-half hours while mostly acting by himself.

With expert direction from Phil Lord and Christophe Miller, the team that helmed the Lego Movie, and produced the Spider-Man Multiverse movies, Project Hail Mary is a fun emotional movie that has true big screen energy.

Jonathan’s grade – A-