I haven’t read the Project Hail Mary novel so I’m going into this film completely blind and very late to the party considering it’s now out on Amazon Prime after a theatrical run that garnered $681.4M at the box office from its $200M budget.
Project Hail Mary is currently the 5th highest grossing film of 2026 but during the first part of the film it’s difficult to see why as confusing scientific jargon and slow pacing almost turns me off immediately until that is, we meet Rocky. An alien engineer from the planet Erid.
Rocky is an alien lifeform that has the same goal as Grace (Gosling) which is to save humanity from extinction as a microorganism called Astrophage is consuming the sun and cooling it down affecting not just Earth but Rocky’s own planet Erid also.
As soon as Rocky is introduced into the film the entire vibe changes from dull and boring to upbeat, heartfelt and intriguing.
Gosling single-handedly carries the film on his shoulders from start to finish but his bond with Rocky when they come into first contact is one of the most incredible I’ve seen on screen for many many years which is crazy considering Rocky is in fact, just a rock and his language is being translated through a computer to communicate with Grace.
There’s a real bond between the two and the emotional aspects of this film really hit home from this point on and considering Gosling is indeed just acting on his own and production haven’t discovered a living, breathing, talking rock it’s a testament to his range completely carrying this film single handed.
Whilst sci-fi fans will absolutely love this film I feel it’s going to take some patience from the audience before they can start to invest in it.
The slow pacing at the beginning does lean very heavily into exposition and maybe a little too much at times but the pay off once the film gets going is certainly worth it.
Our Rating
Summary
A slow-starter but the second Rocky is introduced to the film Project Hail Mary matures and develops a deep emotional resonance and becomes a very beautiful, engaging and outstanding piece of sci-fi cinema.
