‘Project Hail Mary’ Is Not Just About Space

Imagine waking up in a small room with no memory of who or where you are. Your
crewmates? Dead. That’s the start of Project Hail Mary, a sci-fi movie directed and
produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and originally a novel by Andy Weir. It’s all about science and the lengths humans will go to survive.

The main character is Ryland Grace, a science teacher who ends up being the last
hope for humanity. The problem is a space-born organism called Astrophage that’s
eating the sun’s energy. If it isn’t stopped, Earth will enter a second Ice Age in just a few
decades, causing extinction.

The name ‘Project Hail Mary’ is the title of the mission, a one-way trip to a star
lightyears away. Grace uses his knowledge of biology while he’s floating in space to find a cure and a way back home.

The best part about the film is, without giving away too many spoilers, the major theme of cooperation. Whether it’s between people from different countries or between different species, it’s teamwork that makes everything possible. The mission, as I said earlier, is a one-way stop, there’s no going home because the crew is meant to die in space, so really it makes you ask: “Why go so far for people you’ll never meet and will probably lose?”

Another big aspect of the movie involves language. How do you speak to someone—or
something—if you cannot understand them? The solution leads to multiple fun scenes of Grace and his new-found space companion tinkering with different ways to communicate with each other.

Project Hail Mary isn’t just about space; it’s about discovery and working past differences. It’s fast-paced, humorous, and touching. If what I’ve mentioned interests you, this film is worth the watch.