Brilliant. Heart-warming. Captivating. Brave. Project Hail Mary has been one of the best films 2026 has to offer so far. A middle school science teacher wakes up on a spaceship in the middle of space with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As he explores the ship and his memory slowly comes back, he is met with the challenge of saving earth. As he figures his way through the spaceship, another space ship, that is obviously not human, tries to contact him. He meets a rock-looking alien and he creates a way for them to communicate with each other. As these two build a way to save both of their planets, they also build a friendship.
Project Hail Mary brings the audience through a funny, wonderful, and adventurous story of two beings that come together to save each other’s homes. The movie really embarks on the emotional and serious aspect of a sci-fi movie, while perfectly mixing in humor and friendship. Project Hail Mary is based off of the 2021 science fiction novel written by Andy Weir.
Going into this movie blind, I expected this to be one of Ryan Gosling’s serious and emotion-filled acting jobs instead of the humorous side we got to see of him in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 Barbie. Many that have watched the movie have also read the novel, including EHS student (28) Eli Stewart, who said, “I liked both the movie and book. Both were equally as good. I think the movie is a pretty faithful recreation. There are some fairly minor differences.”
As someone who has not read the book, I expect the book to be just as good as the movie. I could see that they really worked hard on this film and talking to people who have read the book, they seem pretty pleased with the outcome of it.
EHS student (28) Reese Fields said, “I didn’t read the book, but I did watch the movie and I thought it was pretty interesting. I expected it to be all about science and I expected not to understand like half of the movie. It turns out it was pretty easy to understand. I enjoyed watching it a lot. It was a really cute ending.”
Many viewers did say it was an emotional film, but perfectly swirled in the science and anticipation as well. Throughout Project Hail Mary’s release it has become enormously successful. It appeals to a broad audience of people, so not just one group of people are going to see it. Overall, Project Hail Mary is the perfect watch if you’re looking for something hopeful and intriguing.
