Project Hail Mary just made itself a frontrunner for the 2027 Oscars

As soon as I saw Project Hail Mary was coming to the big screen, a gnawing scepticism took hold of me – I’m thrilled to have been proven wrong. 

In fact, it didn’t take long into this two-and-a-half-hour star-filled adventure to realise that it was an early frontrunner for the 2027 Oscars.

This is not the first time an Andy Weir sci-fi epic has been brought to life. His novel The Martian was adapted into Ridley Scott’s 2015 movie of the same name, starring Matt Damon, which eclipsed both Alien and Gladiator as the iconic filmmaker’s highest-grossing movie of all time.

Weir’s speciality is investigating what it means to be human in the most extreme circumstances. What stardust is our souls made up of when laid bare in the face of utter barrenness, plunged into the unfamiliar with nothing but salt-of-the-earth grit and raw determination (if that)?

Those stories that parallel the vastness of our inner world with the endless depths of the universe – à la Ad Astra, Arrival and Interstellar – are enough to make the hairs on my arm stand up on end. 

In Project Hail Mary – directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller – we meet Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a man who wakes up from a coma and finds himself completely alone on a spaceship with no knowledge of how or why he’s there. 

As the story progresses, we discover the Sun is dying. Grace? He’s the sole survivor of a Hail Mary rescue mission across the solar system to save Earth from the mortal blow of an alien amoeba. 

In the book, which flits between Grace’s time on the spaceship and flashbacks piecing together what led him here, we spend the entire time in our lost space voyager’s mind. He has a dry, sarcastic humour, is worn down by his life experiences, and believes himself to be a simple, cowardly man.

From the first moments Gosling is on screen, he seamlessly steps into this role, infusing his interpretation with punchy comedic timing, effortless charm and an ability to play light and dark that actually endeared me more to the character than, perhaps, even in the book. 

He’ll go from making you misty-eyed to laughing out loud on the turn of a dime – no mean feat. Present in nearly every frame of the film, the La La Land star commands the screen and puts in what deserves to be an acclaimed performance.

Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of this adaptation, which I was most wary of, is bringing his counterpart, Rocky (James Ortiz), to life.

In his attempts to save humanity, he teams up with an alien with the same goal in mind – best described as a stony spider with wicked intelligence and a naive sense of the world. 

The entire plot lives and dies on the chemistry between these unlikely friends, and the narrative’s ability to make us care and root for them. Despite Rocky having no discernible features and a generic, robot-like voice, he shone on screen. 

It blew me away just how much I was won over by this duo, who I was already so fond of in the book. 

On the flip side, in the past timeline, we also see Grace’s dynamic with Sanda Hüller’s character, Stratt, who is the mastermind behind the Hail Mary project and helms it with a no-nonsense attitude. It’s delightful watching the two play off each other.

With a book as meaty, science-focused and rambling as Project Hail Mary, the task of making it an accessible sci-fi romp is not an easy one, but the dialogue, pacing and even cuts to the source material are smooth and, in some cases, for the best.

For those fans who want more of this story, the book is there as a bonus, but at a pacey and necessary two and a half hours – the movie really is the highlight reels without all the verbose baggage. A faithful adaptation that elevates the story.

Having said that, there are two scenes that it’s a shame didn’t make the leap to the big screen and may leave book lovers disappointed at their absence. 

Another aspect that some, like myself, may have to overlook is the American exceptionalism of it all. It’s no fault of the novel or movie, but the genre itself lends itself to a USA supremacy, and the space odyssey flick is crying out to stretch its arms and become more universal. 

Ultimately, are some moments cheesy? Sure. Do you have to suspend your disbelief on more than one occasion? Absolutely. But, Project Hail Mary delivers exactly what it says on the tin – an energetic space epic that will make your heart swell.

And, for those going in totally blind, enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes (surprise alien notwithstanding).

This is the ultimate crowd pleaser and for good reason. Quintessential of Weir’s work, there’s a thread of hope woven throughout that you’re helpless but to cave to and a surprising depth of emotion that will catch you off guard, if you allow it.

Project Hail Mary is in UK cinemas from March 19, 2026.

A version of this article was first published on March 10, 2026.

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