Project Hail Mary inspires us to find our tribe

It’s important that everyone finds their happy place. The thing is we need to first know ourselves well. For instance, maybe we think too much of ourselves and wind up crowding out other voices. Or maybe we think too little of ourselves, feeling we have nothing interesting to say or useful to offer. Or despite having so much to contribute, we are wallflowers, so compressed into the woodwork that people look past us and fail to recognize our value. Maybe we even purse our lips during the first year or two of meeting someone we like because we are slow to trust. Whichever camp we fall into, each of us deserves happiness. Once we know ourselves, achieving this is often just a matter of finding our tribe. This is the story so beautifully conveyed in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s film adaptation of Andy Weir’s best seller, Project Hail Mary.

Starring Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary is about a talented but self-effacing geoscientist named Ryland Grace who teaches elementary school despite his lofty scientific accomplishments. So, when he wakes up to find himself in space, he experiences momentary confusion, unsure of how he got there and why. The reluctant and lone scientist-turned-astronaut, Grace fought vehemently against joining this mission, repeatedly yet ashamedly exclaiming, “I am not that guy.” Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), the mission’s determined and undeterred project manager, disagreed with him, noting not only his scientific qualifications but also his lack of a family or significant other, making him the perfect candidate for this one-way mission to space. 

Grace has been sent on a mission to investigate an astronomical anomaly that is rapidly draining energy from the sun and to design a solution to stunt the process. It is a critical task because the earth is cooling each year. Arriving deep in space after months of traveling, Grace encounters a ship. Fearful, he tries to get away from it but the ship mimics his movements, eventually and gracefully docking with Grace’s capsule as if extending an invitation to him to board. We know this from the light and upbeat music that gives the scenes a playful tone rather than a dramatic and ominous one that typically accompanies “the unknown” and signals danger ahead. Rather than being stilled by the ship’s docking, Grace becomes curious, as does the life form he meets and later names Rocky.

Hailing from the planet Erid, Rocky (voice of James Ortiz), speaks a language other than English and has a body composed of square, rectangular, and tubular blocks seemingly shaped from rock. When the two establish a way to communicate, they learn that they are both scientists and that they share the same problem on their respective planets. From there, the duo collaborates to figure it out and become close friends in the process.

The roles of music and color in the cinematic experience delivered by Project Hail Mary cannot be overstated. To illustrate this, Rocky’s ship is presented as a beautiful arrangement of shiny gold threads that really pop against the darkness of space, and Grace dons a red space suit on his treks to Rocky’s ship. Consider that space suits in movies are typically black or white, making them colorless, unprovocative, and neutral. They neither dilate the pupils nor draw any emotional or aesthetically pleasing response. Grace’s red suit and Rocky’s shiny gold ship, however, are visually appealing and emotive. Red, in particular, is associated with happiness and festive holidays like Christmas and Independence Day. 

In Project Hail Mary, we see the two scientists enjoy one another when Rocky makes an impromptu visit to Grace’s ship, momentarily cramping Grace’s style. We also see this when Rocky doesn’t want Grace to leave him to get some sleep, prompting Grace to set up a hammock while Rocky humorously watches him slumber out of curiosity. These observations of different ways of doing, being, and expressing are reminders that nurturing relationships sometimes requires flexibility, a bit of shape-shifting at times, if you will. The new curves and corners formed and the moments of discomfort endured can be viewed as allowances we make to move toward happier, more meaningful lives. 

Adding to Project Hail Mary’s visuals is the ethereal and buoyant music signaling the fun tone of the film, along with the scientists’ enjoyment of their bonding and their work. The music occurs from the moment the ships are in proximity to one another, to Grace and Rocky’s interactions, to their exploration and brainstorming of their mutual problem, and to the use of their experiences and complementary strengths as they consider viable solutions. The music lets us know that the two are not just enjoying the work but that they are bonding, and each has found a new best friend.

When I look for films similar to Project Hail Mary, the recommendations stem from the science-fiction/space and fantasy genres. While I understand the parallels, I don’t see Project Hail Mary this way. The movie focuses on our need for a sense of belonging by observing our tendencies to self-isolate. I think, for example, about the mission prelaunch party attended by Grace and other scientists and astronauts. The mood was festive and everyone was interacting and having a good time. Grace, however, sat alone at the bar with a writing pad and a drink, despite having contributed so much knowledge to the project. Even in a crowd of his peers and coworkers, he self-isolated and still, apparently, felt alone.

Potentially comparable movies like Beaches and Girls Trip are wonderful stories about long-time friendships, but Beaches is sad and thus makes the tone problematic. And while Girls Trip is fun, it centers on an already-established tribe, so the audience doesn’t observe the bonds being formed between the group members. It is not a perfect fit, but Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower comes close to Project Hail Mary. Although it is a coming‑of‑age story about high‑school students, the film features a character, freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman), who struggles to make social connections with his peers until he is befriended by a pair of charismatic seniors.

While Project Hail Mary is a space movie about fixing an astronomical anomaly that is affecting life on Earth and Erid, that anomaly manifests as falling temperatures that threaten life and living. This problem of falling temperatures can be framed figuratively as a cooling or devolving of personal relationships. The phenomenon may be fueled by social media, AI, politics, some phone apps, and other disrupters that lead to self-isolation and loneliness, much like Grace’s lived experience on Earth. Interestingly, Grace knew himself well; that he was “not that guy,” at least not until he stumbled upon Rocky, whom he found worth being “that guy” for.

Film is both entertaining and didactic. Perhaps Project Hail Mary is encouraging us to get off the wall, out of our seat, and go find our tribe—our Rocky—like Grace did, so we can move toward a state of happiness too.