Hi, this is long. Don’t read this if you don’t care. TLDR: Amaze 🤗
These past few days, I have been distracted by projects (you know, posting on Reddit, writing emails to ski resorts, scrambling eggs… those kinds of projects). But rest assured, I have been thinking very deeply about this review. Suffice to say, I am not typically the person to rewatch a movie within two weeks (unless it’s High School Musical, and it’s summer vacation, and I feel like annoying my sister).
I thought I was going to have plenty of time to make my way to the movie theater to rewatch Project Hail Mary on an IMAX screen. It seemed to be doing well! It’s a big deal movie. Surely, there will continue to be screenings for the next month, right? NO! On the night of March 30th, imagine my shock and confusion to see that there were no more IMAX times listed after April 1. Gotta be some kind of April Fools joke, surely.
It wasn’t a joke, and that’s how I ended up ditching work at 3:30 PM on a random Wednesday (my favorite day in April) to drive THROUGH BOSTON to Somerville to see the last IMAX showing I could find before Mario Galaxy terrorized us all. No regrets. I’d do it again if I had to. I also almost got stuck in an elevator that night. That part, I would not want to do again.
This is just a diary entry, Pratima. Where’s the review, Pratima? Yes yes, I’m getting to that.
I think Project Hail Mary (the movie) was made for me. I’m not a movie person, okay? Or at least, I’m not a sad movie person. Give me a happy movie about two people falling in love over Interstellar any day (most days). Yeah, this is a good movie about “people” falling in love. Favorite rom-com of 2026. This is exactly the kind of wholesome shit I’m looking for, and I’m happy they didn’t try to stuff an actual romance in there. I might like rom-coms, but I’m a firm believer in leaving rom out of places it doesn’t need to be.
This is also a story of me falling in love. Not only did I download Hinge and meet my first sociopath mere days before watching this movie (the first time), I also thought that Sandra Hüller was so cool. Guys, she’s so cool. Post-second watch: I’m in love with Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt. To a lesser extent, I’m also in love with the pâtissier from The Bear (Carl), that one Goose from La La Land, and the master puppeteer. But MOSTLY STRATT OKAY I LOVE HER. I have recently developed a hatred for karaoke scenes, and I don’t even like this one as much as most people seem to. But it’s okay, because it’s Stratt.
I’m not sure if IMAX did anything extra for me, but I sure did feel many emotions this time around. And I wasn’t with friends, so I could actually CRY.
It’s good to know I’m capable of feeling something. Or of loving something. I consume most content these days a little bit too analytically, I feel. It gets in the way of me getting emotionally invested. I write too many reviews, and I’m always contemplating a number of stars; it’s not healthy, but I’m not going to stop. Sometimes, though, I watch movies like this that force me to write long reviews like this. Funnily enough, the last book that made me write a long gush review was The Martian. Andy Weir and Andy Weir related media. That guy has mass appeal, and mayybe his magic works on me too. He has a real strength for generally feel-good content with themes of friendship and working together and justtt enough science to make us feel smart.
It’s a bit of a vulnerable thing, to admit that I like something and maybe even love something. I’m always thinking about caveats (yes, I liked this thing, but that doesn’t mean YOU will, and there is also this laundry list of problems that I noticed ofc obviously). I didn’t know the general consensus on this movie before I wrote my first review. I guess I was nervous that I would be here with my ★★★★★ and nobody else would agree. Luckily, this movie hasn’t been very controversial.
I do think the film could’ve gotten into more of the direness of the situation on Earth and what Stratt is sacrificing for this plan too. The stakes felt very far away. The movie chooses to focus on Goose and the friendship, which isn’t wrong, but it is something I noticed. A lot of the science in the book also gets hand-waved away in the movie, but it’s okay, some of the book-science is stupid anyway. Some of it is good science too, but the movie would have gotten really long.
Ryan Gosling makes Ryland Grace (the initials are no coincidence) seem like so much more of a real person than the book (where he’s basically just a blob that tells science jokes). Crazy what having a face can do. The movie also does a much better job at showing his character arc, in my opinion.
I love Project Hail Mary. That’s been my personality for the last few weeks. This is a movie I would be happy to introduce to my proverbial children and to my non-proverbial cousins. It’s the kind of movie that makes me want to watch more movies. Some things just work, and it’s personal and unexplainable. It’s a new “nostalgia checkpoint” for me. I will probably watch it again one day, and you should watch it too.
I thought I was going to have plenty of time to make my way to the movie theater to rewatch Project Hail Mary on an IMAX screen. It seemed to be doing well! It’s a big deal movie. Surely, there will continue to be screenings for the next month, right? NO! On the night of March 30th, imagine my shock and confusion to see that there were no more IMAX times listed after April 1. Gotta be some kind of April Fools joke, surely.
It wasn’t a joke, and that’s how I ended up ditching work at 3:30 PM on a random Wednesday (my favorite day in April) to drive THROUGH BOSTON to Somerville to see the last IMAX showing I could find before Mario Galaxy terrorized us all. No regrets. I’d do it again if I had to. I also almost got stuck in an elevator that night. That part, I would not want to do again.
This is just a diary entry, Pratima. Where’s the review, Pratima? Yes yes, I’m getting to that.
I think Project Hail Mary (the movie) was made for me. I’m not a movie person, okay? Or at least, I’m not a sad movie person. Give me a happy movie about two people falling in love over Interstellar any day (most days). Yeah, this is a good movie about “people” falling in love. Favorite rom-com of 2026. This is exactly the kind of wholesome shit I’m looking for, and I’m happy they didn’t try to stuff an actual romance in there. I might like rom-coms, but I’m a firm believer in leaving rom out of places it doesn’t need to be.
This is also a story of me falling in love. Not only did I download Hinge and meet my first sociopath mere days before watching this movie (the first time), I also thought that Sandra Hüller was so cool. Guys, she’s so cool. Post-second watch: I’m in love with Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt. To a lesser extent, I’m also in love with the pâtissier from The Bear (Carl), that one Goose from La La Land, and the master puppeteer. But MOSTLY STRATT OKAY I LOVE HER. I have recently developed a hatred for karaoke scenes, and I don’t even like this one as much as most people seem to. But it’s okay, because it’s Stratt.
I’m not sure if IMAX did anything extra for me, but I sure did feel many emotions this time around. And I wasn’t with friends, so I could actually CRY.
It’s good to know I’m capable of feeling something. Or of loving something. I consume most content these days a little bit too analytically, I feel. It gets in the way of me getting emotionally invested. I write too many reviews, and I’m always contemplating a number of stars; it’s not healthy, but I’m not going to stop. Sometimes, though, I watch movies like this that force me to write long reviews like this. Funnily enough, the last book that made me write a long gush review was The Martian. Andy Weir and Andy Weir related media. That guy has mass appeal, and mayybe his magic works on me too. He has a real strength for generally feel-good content with themes of friendship and working together and justtt enough science to make us feel smart.
It’s a bit of a vulnerable thing, to admit that I like something and maybe even love something. I’m always thinking about caveats (yes, I liked this thing, but that doesn’t mean YOU will, and there is also this laundry list of problems that I noticed ofc obviously). I didn’t know the general consensus on this movie before I wrote my first review. I guess I was nervous that I would be here with my ★★★★★ and nobody else would agree. Luckily, this movie hasn’t been very controversial.
I do think the film could’ve gotten into more of the direness of the situation on Earth and what Stratt is sacrificing for this plan too. The stakes felt very far away. The movie chooses to focus on Goose and the friendship, which isn’t wrong, but it is something I noticed. A lot of the science in the book also gets hand-waved away in the movie, but it’s okay, some of the book-science is stupid anyway. Some of it is good science too, but the movie would have gotten really long.
Ryan Gosling makes Ryland Grace (the initials are no coincidence) seem like so much more of a real person than the book (where he’s basically just a blob that tells science jokes). Crazy what having a face can do. The movie also does a much better job at showing his character arc, in my opinion.
I love Project Hail Mary. That’s been my personality for the last few weeks. This is a movie I would be happy to introduce to my proverbial children and to my non-proverbial cousins. It’s the kind of movie that makes me want to watch more movies. Some things just work, and it’s personal and unexplainable. It’s a new “nostalgia checkpoint” for me. I will probably watch it again one day, and you should watch it too.
Rewatched on: April 1, 2026
Rating: ★★★★★ / 5
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