Imagine you wake up, you have no clue where you are and you’re all alone. In space. For Dr. Ryland Grace, this is his reality. The new sci-fi movie, “Project Hail Mary” tells the story of Grace and how, bit by bit, he regains his memory while also uncovering the truth of how he ended up in space. And since April 12, this 2026 movie release has already grossed around $500 million in sales and it only seems to be going up from there. 

The story sets out with Grace waking up on a spaceship, no idea of who he is or where he is. After exploring the spaceship, he realizes that all of his crewmates are dead. Slowly as he regains his memory, he learns that he has been sent to save the world from a substance that is eating away at the sun. From there, Grace faces unpredictable obstacles and challenges that force him to reach deep into his mind, all while having the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

This movie had the perfect balance of comedy and devastating sadness. On the comedy side, for such a serious looking movie, there were moments where I found myself trying not to burst out laughing. The jokes were added in at the perfect moments, like when certain scenes felt so heavy and dark, a small joke was added and suddenly the whole mood was lightened. Even at unexpected moments, like when you would last imagine someone trying to crack a joke, one would be added and it somehow worked. Continuing the unexpected, the comedy was creative and fit perfectly with the theme of the movie. 

Even though there was lots of comedy, there were moments where I found myself sobbing as well. Specifically at the climax of the movie, where a high intensity scene took place, without even realizing it, I had begun to cry. In total, my cry count went up to five times. Cries turned into sobs and sobs turned strangely into uncontrollable laughter. I found this really interesting, since usually it’s extremely hard to go from sadness to laughter right back to sobbing. This is what I really liked about the movie because it brought you through all sorts of emotions, but they all fused and pieced together very well. 

Ryan Gosling, the star of the movie, took on the role of Dr. Ryland Grace extremely well. Like mentioned before, there were shifts in moods throughout the movie that Gosling handled very well. Lots of scenes in the movie were flashbacks, which helped to create the emotional jerking effect, and overall displayed Gosling’s acting abilities. He was able to act out serious scenes, even breaking out a few tears himself, but also had moments where he was able to make the audience laugh. So while there were funny parts in the movie, “Project Hail Mary” was a much more serious film than some of the other roles Gosling has taken on, like his role of Ken in “Barbie”. In “Barbie”, Ken was almost always upbeat, in ridiculous outfits and was overall a slapstick character. But in “Project Hail Mary”, Grace is a teacher turned into an astronaut forcing Gosling to take a more serious approach to the movie. Overall, Gosling was able to add some of his charm into the movie, making it unique to him. I think the movie would have ended up differently if anyone else had played Grace. 

Previously, I had mentioned that the feel of the movie felt darker, and I blame this on the cinematography. The movie captured a dark mood by being set in space, and I feel like the props used also helped convey the feeling. For example, a planet in the movie had a dark green aura around it, conveying emotions of darkness and moodiness. I appreciated the feelings though, because as the movie progressed, things began to look and feel lighter, leaving the movie on a good note. I think that the moody feeling was important to the characters as well, because it really allowed them to be the lightness of the movie, making them seem more likeable.

Overall, “Project Hail Mary” was a wonderfully made movie and I would watch it again and again. The script and characters were creative, helping to make an engaging movie. The setting of the movie being in space was a new experience for me, but I totally loved it. The acting from every actor was incredible, allowing for the movie to feel genuine. All of the actors seemed to love their role, which created a positive atmosphere and viewing experience. A sci-fi movie is almost never my first choice, so when I say watch this movie, I really mean it.