Review of Project Hail Mary
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
By Jiho Lee ‘27
A stream of cinematic spectacles is expected to sweep past us this year, with Project Hail Mary leading the charge. Released on March 18, the film follows middle-school teacher Ryland Grace as he wakes up on a spaceship 12 light-years from home, absolutely unaware of how he got there. But upon discovering that energy-consuming microbes called "Astrophage" are dimming the sun, he soon understands his mission: to save Earth from the impending doom of a new ice age.
The "Hail Mary" Pass
"Hail Mary" is a football term referring to a desperate, long-distance throw made when time is running out and failure is near certain. In this sense, the title Project Hail Mary is rather self-explanatory—in the face of such an extinction-level threat, Grace himself is the “Hail Mary” of humankind. His one-way mission to Tau Ceti, 12 light-years away from Earth, is clearly humanity’s last shot.
First Contact
Most science fiction movies that concern outer space and aliens attempt to evade the challenge of realism by using a "universal translator" or simply assuming that English is the universal language. It’s rarely clear enough how the characters justify the idea that the aliens’ languages are similar to theirs.
If humans were to actually make contact with another intelligent being, how would we initiate communication? Our eyes see through a mere fraction of the electromagnetic wave spectrum, and our ears only hear sound waves within certain frequencies; even on Earth, the range of perceptible frequencies varies by species. How, then, could we determine the way aliens’ sensory systems work?
Project Hail Mary also features an alien, Rocky, from the planet Erid—but the film notably highlights the process of building transverbal communication as a central aspect of the narrative. With no visual organs, Rocky navigates space through echolocation. His language largely consists of musical chords, which Grace treats as riddles, analyzing their frequencies and identifying recurring patterns. Rocky, in turn, develops his own device that translates light into physical vibrations.
Initially, Grace and Rocky communicate through physical models, describing their locations in relation to stars nearby. Using light, sound, and body language, they manage to connect despite their differences. Mathematics and science also play a crucial role in establishing a shared understanding between the two protagonists, both of whom are engineers fluent in the common laws and systems governing the universe. They even successfully describe the air compositions of their respective planets through molecular models.
The Bravest Human
As Grace’s memory gradually returns, the plotline delivers a twist: Ryland Grace was never really the hero he’d imagined; he was in fact a coward who had been forced onto the ship. Following this revelation, his character arc suddenly becomes much more realistic and relatable, inviting the audience to ponder whether they themselves would have been so virtuous, if they were in his shoes, as to willingly give up their lives for the greater good.
Grace eventually gathers enough fuel to return home and become a hero—or, otherwise, to turn his ship around and save Rocky, spending the rest of his life in exile. What matters most to him now? Once a coward who ran away from his responsibilities, Grace ultimately changes for the better. He chooses his friend.
In an earlier flashback, Grace wonders what kind of “genetic makeup” astronauts must have to possess such courage, only to receive an even more puzzling response that it just takes “someone to be brave for.” Still, he ends up finding that "someone"—not a human, but an Eridian named Rocky, who sees in him something other than failure: the “bravest human [he has] ever met." This external validation draws out the latent courage Grace never knew he possessed as he chooses to sacrifice his life on Earth for a friend.
The Adaptation From Page to Screen
As an admirer of Andy Weir’s novel, which is famous for its dense explanations of scientific processes and experiments, my biggest question all along was: how will the movie carry out the science? While it inevitably omits some heavy math and science, those changes were likely necessary to keep the 156-minute runtime moving. Even so, the film captures the essence of the narrative perfectly well.
References
Image 1: Project Hail Mary book cover [Image]. (2021). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Project_Hail_Mary_book_cover.jpg
Image 2: Phm grace n rocky [Photograph]. (2026). Ars Technica. https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/phm_grace_n_rocky-1536x760.jpg
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