Project Hail Mary: a Love Letter to Hopecore Cinema

Ryan Gosling’s latest blockbuster, Project Hail Mary, has triumphantly taken on the planet, landing with a surprising grace (pun intended) in the hearts of the people. It's the perfect archetype of a feel-good movie that swings you through the full spectrum of emotions in the span of two hours and thirty-seven minutes, leaving you with a comforting buzz in your chest. As a film enthusiast, it's a ridiculously fulfilling journey.

What makes a film special?

When it makes you feel. You laugh, you ache, you hope, you beam, you cry, you fall in love with cinema. Project Hail Mary restores your faith in the movie magic and the fascinating lure of the theatres. It's worth every penny you spend and every second you offer it, recompensating that with an experience you immediately have to go back again for.

Hail Mary’s worldwide success at the box office is evidence to what people crave. The audience shows up to the movie theatres to escape for a few hours. The world has enough tragedy in it.

Sometimes, all you need in despondently hopeless and inhumane times is a reminder: kindness exists! Humanity is precious! The power of friendship is awesome! And Project Hail Mary ticks every single box. Whatever you can wish for, it does it. Ryan Gosling as a pitiful nerd in lopsided specs and cardigans? Delivered. Self-doubting character who thinks they are pathetic, even if they are the smartest person in the room? Yes. Sandra Hüller karaoking to Sign of the Times? It has it. STEM chic? Right. Power of friendship saves this world, and one more? It does!

Rocky and Grace save stars. Rocky and Grace save the movies, and your wonder in the unknown. Darn right, platonic soulmates are that moving. They would die for each other, and I would die for them.

What makes Ryland Grace the character of the year, in addition to being the most stylish ambassador of knitwear, is his humanness. He is not your typical main character; he’s not a hero, he’s just a clumsy, unintentionally funny nerd who accidentally became too important at work. And has to suffer the consequences – go to space in a coma, and save the world alone.

No biggie. Just your average San Francisco guy. Who shrieks when things go wrong, who forgets to string words properly in a sentence, who manages to turn perfectly normal situations into the most awkward conversations, who trips randomly, who struggles to find the courage people expect of him, who gets terrified at the scary stuff. Like a human does. But he’s also brave and kind and funny and charming and affectionate and intelligent and unselfish. Like a human is. And that’s what is special about Ryland Grace, not the fact that he made first contact with an alien or that he solved an apocalyptic problem. But his ordinariness.

All it took was Stratt to believe in him to make him capable of greatness. Isn’t that where we all live? On the threshold of mediocrity, with one little factor waiting at the sidelines to tip us over to extraordinary.

That one little factor being the belief in ourselves and our potential. Save your money on the “I had potential” t-shirt (despite how cool it seems). You have it now. Having said that, I have to comment on Grace’s iconic collection of tees. Maybe I’m giving too much credit to the experience of being human for what makes Ryland Grace special; it’s probably just his impeccable taste in geek clothing.

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Pessimism is boring.

For what was supposed to be a suicide mission, they do a fantastic job at burying the sombre and dreadful, alternately packing it with whimsy and colour. A white spacesuit? Boring.

But a loud red one? Perfection. In fact, I predicted a tragic ending at almost four different points in the film, but my nihilism was rewarded with the happiest ending a piece of media has given me. The present desperately needs more authors like Andy Weir who write dystopia in a hopeful manner because, as Ryan put it in an interview:

The future is not something to be feared, but to be figured out.

It needs curious minds, not cynical ones. And this project does an ace job at making optimism cool and trendy. It rekindles your faith in the goodness that thrives in all of us.

Even Astrophage – the literal cause of death for countless stars and living systems was portrayed as aesthetically appealing, an absolute marvel; not an evil but a fascinating force of the universe that borrows its beauty like the rest. What absolutely seals the deal with this cosmic voyage for me is the lack of romance. Sometimes you just want to see a human and an alien create unmatched chemistry on the big screen and go home with a new hyper fixation. Well then, Ryan Gosling and stones have always had insane chemistries. (Pun intended again)

Project Hail Mary is awesome, statement.

When you walk into a film with managed expectations but the film is Project Hail Mary, so your expectations keep skyrocketing as the film unfurls and are met with a beautiful and poignant piece of art that has your eyes crinkling with unceasing laughter (an ode to Gosling’s comedic genius), sparkling with joy and hope, and watering with the beauty of the universe and the relationship of two very weird creatures I feel strangely maternal about. It’s like Santa’s pockets on Christmas.

On a related note, Greig Faser’s camera might be my new crush. You know you’re witnessing a masterpiece when shots of fake space have you borderline bawling in public. You are reminded of why everyone loves Ryan Gosling every time you watch a movie of his, and this time wasn’t an exception. Probably one of his best works till date, this film stands as a testament to that man’s sheer talent.

While Ryland Grace manages to save his sun from dying, Ryan Gosling gifts this world a beautiful, warm ball of sunshine dressed up as a movie. This is for people who hope, who dream, and who believe in the future with a naive heart.