‘Project Hail Mary’ Review: Stunning Film! Most Feel-Good, Emotional, Humorous Sci-Fi Movie Ever (LatestLY Exclusive)

Ryan Gosling’s movie Project Hail Mary is well worth the hype it has created in Hollywood and the Western film market. Project Hail Mary is Ryan Gosling’s biggest opener, collecting over USD80 million at the box office in its USA release on March 20, 2026. The film has crossed USD100 million at the box office worldwide. Project Hail Mary released in India on March 26, 2026, in theatres. It will help increase the box office collections through the urban Indian audience, who are likely to lap it up for its good reviews and science-fiction content in IMAX screen format. The IMAX screen limit for Project Hail Mary has reportedly been reduced owing to the ongoing success and increasing footfalls of Dhurandhar: The Revenge. However, the Hollywood film has its appeal for a family audience, which the A-rated Dhurandhar 2 doesn’t. ‘Project Hail Mary’ India Release: Ryan Gosling’s IMAX Space Drama Snubbed by Indian Theatres for ‘Dhurandhar 2’.

Based on a book of the same name by Andy Weir from 2021, Project Hail Mary is a beautiful look at friendship, humanity and space adventures. Let’s take a look at how Project Hail Mary fares from an audience point-of-view.

What Is ‘Project Hail Mary’ About?

An unlikely friendship between a human and an alien that becomes an everlasting bond – we’ve seen that before in numerous films. Whether it’s Steven Spielberg’s 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (rumoured to have been plagiarised from celebrated Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s story titled The Alien), or Bollywood’s own Koi Mil Gaya (2003) starring Hrithik Roshan and an alien character named Jaadu. So, how is it different in Project Hail Mary? Let's know about that. Ryan Gosling and Hrithik Roshan Tease ‘Project Hail Mary’ X ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ Crossover During Fun Interview (Watch Video).

In Project Hail Mary, the situation is different and the writing fresh. There’s crackling chemistry between its two leads – Ryan Gosling as Dr Ryland Grace from Planet Earth on a one-way space mission, and James Ortiz as Rocky, the five-legged alien from 40 Eridani. Their adorable bromance is what keeps the film going, as Grace and Rocky navigate loneliness on their respective spacecraft, and focus on saving their sun from dying. Finally, their newfound friendship is put to the test and the two pass with flying colours. Nothing more should be revealed, for it will be a spoiler. ‘Project Hail Mary’: Know About Ryan Gosling’s Sci-Fi Film Before India Release.

'Project Hail Mary' Trailer - Watch Video:

Performances in ‘Project Hail Mary’

Let's take a look at the actors' performances in Project Hail Mary.

Ryan Gosling and James Ortiz

While there are other characters in Project Hail Mary apart from the leads Ryan Gosling and “Rocky”, it’s Ryan who is on screen for the most part and you can’t take your eyes off him. He is in character and delivers an outstanding performance as Dr Ryland Grace, a space scientist and sixth-grade science teacher. Gosling’s character is laced with humour and wit although he is still figuring out who he is after waking up from an induced coma in an interstellar spaceship. At least 11.9 light years away from home, Dr Grace has to decide between Infinite Space and Planet Earth. The show-stealer though, is James Ortiz’s voiceover and puppetry as “Rocky”, the alien. He is simply charming!

Sandra Hüller

Cesar Award-winning and Oscar-nominated German actress Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt, the Project Hail Mary space mission’s chief, is brilliant in the film. Her character of a lead who never loses focus and never lets emotions come in the way of a broader mission and aim, stands out because of Huller’s performance. The character itself has less screen time with no backstory to fall on, but Huller steers it well and proves her mettle yet again. Sandra Hüller is a master of her craft!

Lionel Boyce, Priya Kansara and Others

Actors Lionel Boyce delivers a lovable performance as Carl, the security guard, an unlikely brief work partner to Dr Grace. Other mentions are Ken Leung as Yao Li-Jie, the Chinese commander of the Hail Mary spacecraft, Milana Vayntrub as Olesya Ilyukhina, the Russian engineer on board, and Liz Kingsman as Annie Shapiro, a backup scientist on the Hail Mary. Bridgerton famed actress Priya Kansara is the voice of Mary, the computer on board the spaceship. The other supporting cast fare well.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Direction, Writing and Editing

Project Hail Mary is helmed by two directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, known for directing animation movies Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and The Lego Movie (2014), and writing The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019). Lord and Miller do a fine job of keeping the audience interested in the proceedings, although the length of the film at 156 minutes could feel longer to Western audiences, but Editor Joel Negron keeps the viewers hooked. The screenplay by Drew Goddard of The Martian fame, adapted from Andy Weir’s book, is taut. At places, the humour may seem dumbed down for the younger audiences. But overall, the film works.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Cinematography and Music

The cinematography in Project Hail Mary by Greig Fraser is spell-binding and keeps you hooked. And what is a space movie without great visuals? It’s a given. But the music in Project Hail Mary, the background score and the songs used, are equally an integral part of the movie-watching experience. Music composer Daniel Pemberton of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), Ferrari (2023) and Materialists (2025) fame scores wonderful, nostalgic music for Project Hail Mary, evoking just the right emotions without you realising it. Pemberton’s upcoming work would be in Zendaya-Robert Pattinson’s The Drama (2026), He-Man movie Masters of the Universe (2026), and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (2027).

Why the Name ‘Project Hail Mary’?

The Project Hail Mary title of both the book and the film refers to a "Hail Mary" pass in American football. The Hail Mary pass is a last chance to win the game when all else fails. The spacecraft Hail Mary is sent to save humanity from extinction, a last attempt to save the sun from the solar-consuming Astrophage micro-organisms.

What Genre is ‘Project Hail Mary’?

One isn’t too sure what genre we could fit Project Hail Mary into. Is it a space film? A sci-fi adventure? A bromance, a buddy comedy, or a film on humanity? Or is it a satire on human life? It could be one or all of the above. The film adaptation of Andy Weir’s book has certainly been adapted well for the big screen. The same could be said about The Martian, another book of Weir with a space theme but about a lone survivor rather than an alien-human partnership. It was made into an award-winning film by director Ridley Scott in 2015, starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Verdict and Rating

Project Hail Mary is well on its way to winning awards, too. A family film that caters to people of most age groups with a PGA-13 rating, Project Hail Mary is THE feel-good film about friendship and humanity that the world needs right now, amid wars and conflict. The film is to be experienced on the big screen, although the OTT release of Project Hail Mary on Amazon Prime Video will also be much-awaited. Until then, take your family to watch Project Hail Mary! Preferably on IMAX, if it’s available in your city.

Rating: 4/5.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2026 02:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).