Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have delivered one of the must-see movies of 2026 with the new sci-fi comedy, Project Hail Mary. Based on the novel by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary begins with Dr. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) waking on a spaceship with no memory of who he is. He eventually remembers that he was sent into space to help prevent the Sun and humanity from dying, and he befriends a “crab-rock” alien (James Ortiz) on a similar quest.

Driven by a talented cast and crew, Project Hail Mary delivers a massive, majestic blockbuster that blends a thrilling alien adventure with heartfelt human drama. Fans of classic sci-fi movies like The Martian, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Interstellar will enjoy Project Hail Mary, which has already established itself as a modern masterpiece.

Ryan Gosling and Rocky are a dynamic duo

Similar to The Martian, another Andy Weir book adaptation, Project Hail Mary depicts a comedic everyman’s journey of survival in space. Unlike Matt Damon in the former, Ryan Gosling’s character seems like the last person who should be an astronaut. From minute one, Gosling sells the fact that Grace is just an ordinary guy thrown way out of his element when he is called to save humanity from extinction.

Gosling has proven himself capable of leading thrilling sci-fi films like Blade Runner 2049 and First Man. However, Grace is not the cool, confident hero seen in those films. Instead, we see him as the kind of bumbling fool role Gosling played in The Nice Guys, re-establishing the latter’s range as an actor.

Project Hail Mary has also given us a new alien icon in Rocky, whose chemistry with Grace is off the charts. He rolls into Grace’s ship with the excitement and curiosity of a golden retriever, and they become like college roommates as they try to live and work together.

His garbled, rapid-fire dialogue brings plenty of comic relief to the story, harkening back to the robots seen in The Mitchells vs. The Machines. He also brings plenty of love, showing extraordinary care and loyalty to Grace as he tries to save his people and the people of Earth. Whatever Rocky’s body is made out of, his heart is pure gold.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s unique direction

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller shared the director’s chair for Project Hail Mary for the first time since briefly helming 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. While it was a while since the duo directed a feature film, we’ve seen their clever, subversive storytelling in their animated Spider-Man movies, which feature the kind of quirky, self-referential humor found in Project Hail Mary.

Much like Lord and Miller’s previous films, Project Hail Mary is a metamodern space movie that references and pays homage to classics like Apollo 13, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and 2001. It’s not trying to be a groundbreaking film, but it does deliver a fresh and enjoyable cinematic experience. It’s not every day you see Ryan Gosling singing karaoke on a holodeck with an alien crab-rock.

“One thing about this story that’s unique is that a lot of films are about someone who feels at home on Earth, wakes up in space, and they feel lonely. This is a movie about someone who feels lonely on Earth. They go to space and find a friend,” Lord said to BFI. We wanted space to be, in a funny way, inviting. The old vacuum of space is actually warm and inviting. You’re closer to heaven. The way the film is textured visually, we wanted it to feel more homey.”  

In Project Hail Mary, Lord and Miller continue to infuse their comedic stories with genuine heart and hope. Behind Grace’s star-faring adventure with an alien rock is a portrait of a man discovering his courage after suffering crippling self-doubt. He’s an unconventional hero, but he discovers his courage by learning to believe in himself and finding a friend to fight for.

However, Lord and Miller can’t take all the credit, as the film’s witty, soulful writing was put to paper by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Drew Goddard. Having penned the scripts for sci-fi classics like Cloverfield and The Martian, Goddard helped Lord and Miller bring Grace and Rocky’s story to the big screen with great humor and humanity.

“In Project Hail Mary, the main character is a fish out of water,” Goddard said in an interview with Variety. “You need it to feel rough around the edges, even a little sloppy. We don’t want to feel like he’s a perfect astronaut. And then there’s the character of Rocky…Phil and Chris thrive in finding the humanity inside of these crazy characters. That’s what this film required.”

A spectacular feat of filmmaking

While Lord and Miller led Project Hail Mary to success, they had some other incredible artists helping them bring Weir’s story to the big screen. They scored big when they hired Greig Fraser, who has proven himself one of Hollywood’s best cinematographers with his stunning work on Rogue One, The Batman, and Dune: Part One and Part Two.

Fraser dazzles his audience once again with his radiant visuals in Project Hail Mary, capturing the scale and beauty of Grace and Rocky’s journey through space. The cinematography reaches its peak when Grace harvests Astrophage from the planet Adrian, floating in a sparkling red stream that leaves us staring in awe.

The cinematography is especially mind-blowing considering that not a single green or blue screen was used to create the film’s shots, according to Lord and Miller. The film becomes even more stellar thanks to a beautiful original score from composer Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse).

Much like the film itself, the music blends different tracks and genres to create a unique experience for audiences. One minute, Grace and Rocky waltz across the stars to the sound of a French accordion. The next, Grace launches probes into space as The Beatles rock out in the background.

With such incredible characters, writing, visuals, and music, Project Hail Mary has lit up cinemas like no other film this year so far. We still have plenty of exciting sci-fi films to look forward to, such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune: Part Three, Disclosure Day, and Avengers: Doomsday. However, it is safe to say that Project Hail Mary will go down as one of the best and biggest blockbusters of 2026.