REVIEW: PROJECT HAIL MARY
- Cathryn Bell
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
This space adventure is a triumph of entertainment that never loses its humanity, with an innovative score from Daniel Pemberton that cannot be missed. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Unless you’ve been living under a rock … (pun intended for Rocky fans) your social media feeds have likely been bombarded with promos and fan edits. I’m not often persuaded by the noise of what's trending, but as someone who loves sci-fi, I was curious. This film did NOT disappoint. Lately there has been a trend in mainstream cinema for dark, cynical stories. Images of violence, gratuity, or stakes so outlandishly high they’re impossible to believe. It’s not surprising given the turmoil of recent years. Pandemics. Global conflicts. Cost of living crisis. They say, Art reflects the times. I’ve been longing for a film that goes against the grain and dares to put forth hope, to shine light into the darkness. Project Hail Mary is that beacon.
If you prefer to avoid trailers, here’s a quick spoiler free synopsis. Project Hail Mary tells the story of Ryland Grace, a junior high school teacher and scientist who wakes up alone on a spaceship far from Earth with no memory of how he got there. Struggling to piece together his identity, he discovers he is humanity’s last hope to save Earth. Our sun is being drained by an aggressive interstellar microorganism at a catastrophic cost to life on our planet. Along the way, he crosses paths with another interstellar traveller... a spider-like alien engineer. Grace dubs him Rocky cause… well he looks like a rock. An unlikely alliance is formed. Grace and Rocky must learn to communicate and work together to save both their futures.
Project Hail Mary is a story told with heart, humour, and a beautiful sense of awe for the vast wonder of space and the precious rarity of life’s existence within it. The cinematography is outstanding in scale and colour, clearly designed to be experienced on the big screen (please not on a phone).
I’ve always loved the sense of emotional communion shared when watching a film in a darkened cinema, it has a unique ability to unite us…
At the movies, we see our struggles and hopes reflected in the characters on screen. It helps us makes sense of our lives. It helps us connect to one another in times of need. Some films even inspire us to step into our full potential. There was so much to enjoy in this film. In an era of fast consumed content, the first act thankfully takes its time. Some have grumbled at this. I found the slow pacing perfectly captures Grace’s loneliness and confusion. We feel every second with him. He is so small against his mammoth responsibility and the endless expanse of space surrounding his ship. Much like us. So consumed by our lives on earth, we forget we are on a rock, floating in never ending space surrounded by billions of stars. We forget one day this will all end. Sooner or later, an ending waits for us all.
It seems the era of super hero films is finally waning. Audiences are tired of invincible protagonists and I’m one of them. How can we relate to these characters? What human do you know who’s never made a mistake? Who doesn’t struggle to believe in the purpose of their own existence? Ryland Grace was a breath of a fresh air as a protagonist. (Largely due to Ryan Gosling’s innate charisma and powerfully vulnerable performance). Grace is completely unable to see his own potential. We are all more capable than we give ourselves credit for. His journey is often dependant on the support of others. As John Donne said, “No man is an island”. In this science fiction epic, that is the most human truth of all.
As a composer, I would be remiss not to mention Daniel Pemberton’s score. Since 2014, Hans Zimmer’s score for Interstellar has been held as the pinnacle of sci-fi soundtracks. It sets a high bar for other composers writing in the genre. Pemberton pulls it off with aplomb. Daniel’s unique score captures the intense (sometimes joyous) nature of scientific research and discovery, the godlike vastness of space and the quiet deeply felt touches of humanity.
Space requires innovation. Daniel’s score achieves this with a plethora of surprising instruments; a Cristal Baschet (a type of glass organ played with wet fingertips, like a keyboard made of singing wine glasses)
We hear the Cristal Baschet on “Time Go Fishing” a suspenseful track in a key spacewalk scene. On “Erratic Manoeuvre Detected” he utilises playful whimsical wooden percussion with human vocal chants and steel drums to great comic effect.
In an interview with Dolby (see above) Daniel’s daring score extends to sampling a groaning squeaky old tap in the bathroom of a friend’s country house. Adapting it to form a unique instrument perfect for exploring the unknown regions of space. Project Hail Mary is fundamentally a success because as well as being a high stakes adventure, it never loses its heart, its humanity. This is never clearer than in the quietly emotional track “You were loved”. Delicately layered choral vocals and strings build to a pinnacle as Grace feels the weight of his reality descend upon him. It’s powerful stuff, elegantly told. If you’re yet to see this film, you’re in luck. Or as Rocky would say “it is time go…”. Catch it now on the big screen at the BFI IMAX where the visuals and score can wash over you, or watch it on streaming. Out now. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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