Written by Drew Goddard
Directed by Phil Lord And Christopher Miller
Ryland (re Rocky): "He tells me what to do, he tells me why to do it, he tells me how to do it, he tells me when to do it, and then when I do it, he's like, "what are you doing?""
Okay, decided to finally catch up on one of the biggest movies of 2026 so far. I had to see this one. There was way too much surrounding it. Did it live up to the hype? Yes it did.
Ryan Gosling has had such a mixed bag at the box office. He's had a strong of flops and I genuinely this was going to be another. I thought it's budget alone wouldn't get made back. I was wrong. Anyways on to the actual movie itself.
There's a science teacher named Ryland Grace (Gosling). He's also a former molecular biologist but teaching middle school science became something that he genuinely liked doing. He seemed content with it as a profession but fate had other ideas for Ryland.
In particular a bunch of scientists and government officials under agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) have discovered that the sun has started to dim due to a microorganism and it's up to both Ryland and other scientists to figure out to stop this. This was something that Ryland had to be persuaded into doing by excessive force.
The movie bounced between the build up of sending Ryland into space and then everything that Ryland got up to while he was in space. In particular, there's the introduction of an alien named Rocky (James Ortiz) and it's the biggest highlight in the movie. Yes, Ryan Gosling's best scene partner was through a puppet controlled alien.
Watching Ryland and Rocky form a bond and learning about each others cultures was fun. It's a friendship that was nicely fleshed out during the second and third acts of the movie and both characters bonded over a similar mission. By the end of this movie, I think Ryland made the right choice about his future.
- I'm going to give this movie props for avoiding a Ryland/Eva romance as I felt the more professional relationship worked much better.
- The film's based on a 2021 book of the same name by Andy Weir.
- Ryland and Rocky lamented about past lovers. Rocky didn't quite perfect the first bump.
- While it was totally predictable, I did smile when Ryland referred to Rocky's girlfriend as Adrian.
- Standout music: Sandra Hüller's version of Sign Of The Times certainly hit the spot.
- Chronology: 2032 Earth, space, Venus, the 40 Eridani A System and the biodome on the Eridanians planet.
After watching this film, I get the hype for Project Hail Mary. While I'll admit that I did think it lagged a little, once Rocky was introduced, I really do think the movie came alive. Ryan Gosling definitely gave one hell of a performance too.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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