'Project Hail Mary' is 2026’s Best Movie So Far and a Hail Mary for Cinema

Courtesy of MGM Studios

Project Hail Mary is directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace, a former middle school teacher and molecular biologist who is on a mission to save the sun from dying out. When the movie starts, he has no idea who he is or why he’s in space. Flashback sequences reveal who he is and how he got to this point. The movie is also written by Drew Goddard and is based on Andy Weir’s 2021 novel Project Hail Mary.

It’s easy for someone to look at the trailers for Project Hail Mary and just assume it’s another Interstellar, The Martian, or 2001: A Space Odyssey. The movies share a similar theme, focusing on space travel, stranded individuals in space, and sometimes venturing into space to save Earth. In fact, Andy Weir also wrote the novel on which The Martian is based, and Drew Goddard wrote the screenplay for The Martian, too. It’s easy to point out the similarities to these movies, but they each have something unique and fresh to them. Project Hail Mary also has its own unique takes.

Project Hail Mary, besides being a space adventure movie where Ryan Gosling’s character has to save the day, is also an amnesia story where, at first, he has no idea who he is and why he’s in space. Throughout the movie, we get a lot of flashabck sequences that are grounded and taking place on Earth where we learn more about his character, Ryland Grace, what he was like as a science teacher, how the government approached him, what is wrong with the sun and other stars, how he was helping them, what the mission is about, who else was going on the mission and what happened to them, and how he got into the mission. Gosling shows his range as an actor here, pulling off comedic lines, dramatic moments, how lonely he feels at first, and the scared and tense moments.

In the flashback scenes taking place on Earth, Grace is interacting with other humans, primarily Sandra Hüller’s character, Eva Stratt, who leads the Hail Mary project. In space, when he first wakes up, he starts off alone. At some point, he meets this 5 legged rock-like alien, whom he nicknames Rocky, voiced by James Ortiz, who also does the puppet work for Rocky. The dynamic between Ryland Grace and Rocky is the heart and soul of the movie as the two become friends, work together, and learn about one another. The best parts are when they risk their lives for one another in different parts of the movie. It’s amazing to see old-school puppeteer work looking so great in a 2026 science-fiction movie of this scale.

The visuals are stunning in Project Hail Mary, and the camera work is fantastic. The perfect balance of visual and practical work is one of the best I have seen in a movie in a long time. Christopher Miller revealed that they used no green screens. Instead, they used 2018 VFX shots. Miller also shared that the ship in the movie was built as a film set. For a movie that is a little over 2 and a half hours long, it never feels like it drags on. When the comedy scenes happen, they are funny. When the dramatic moments happen, they feel earned and serious.

Overall, Project Hail Mary is already 2026’s best movie and will likely be one of the year’s best movies once the year is eventually done. Ryan Gosling shows his incredible range as an actor. The character Rocky reminds us that puppetry in film can still be incredible, and characters portrayed by puppets can still warm the hearts of the audience. The story and stakes work. The visual and practical effects should already be considered contenders for next year’s Oscars. If you are a science-fiction fan and love the novel Project Hail Mary and movies like Interstellar and The Martian, I highly recommend you check out Project Hail Mary.

My final grade for Project Hail Mary is an A+. A movie like this is meant to be seen on the big screen and especially in IMAX, for which the movie was specifically filmed.

Have you seen Project Hail Mary? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below.