"Project Hail Mary" is the best film of the year for me

Luca Fontana

28/3/2026

Translation: machine translated

Phil Lord and Chris Miller have made a film that feels like Pixar at its best - simply in space, with Ryan Gosling and an alien called Rocky. A declaration of love.

Don't worry: the following film review contains no spoilers. I won't tell you any more than is already known and can be seen in the trailers. «Project Hail Mary» has been in cinemas since 19 March.

Whoever talks about «Project Hail Mary» quickly ends up with the usual suspects. «Interstellar» because space looks so breathtaking. «Gravity» because the physics are right. «The Martian» because the survival scenario in space seems relatable and the same author is behind the book that was made into a film.

All understandable, all not wrong - but all only half the truth. Because none of these comparisons capture what this film is really about. A much better comparison came from film critic Marco Risch on his YouTube channel «Nerdkultur». He said that «Project Hail Mary» felt most like a perfect Pixar film.

I had to pause for a moment when I first heard that. Pixar? In a space thriller with Ryan Gosling?

But the more I think about it, the more he hits the mark. Because what characterises the best Pixar films is something that has become rare in today's blockbuster cinema: a deeply human story in front of which the film's own setting almost becomes a minor matter. «Ratatouille», for example, is not really about a rat in a Parisian Michelin-starred restaurant, but about the fact that every human being can create something great. And «Up» is not an adventure story about a house of balloons, but one about loss, grief and unfulfilled dreams.

The setting is the packaging. The heart is always somewhere else.

This also applies to «Project Hail Mary». Space, physics, the alien - it's all a backdrop. At its core, the film tells a story about friendship. The fact that you don't even notice the time passing for over two and a half hours is almost an added bonus. This also makes «Project Hail Mary» the best film of the year.

More than «The Martian» in space

Of course, I understand why the comparison with «The Martian» is still the most obvious one for many. If you watch the trailer, you quickly assume the same basic idea: a man stranded in space has to survive with scientific ingenuity. If you know one film, you think you already know the other.

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) also wakes up. Alone. In a spaceship. He doesn't know where he is, how he got there - and certainly not why. But what he does find out pretty quickly: He is not an astronaut. He is a teacher and researcher, stranded in the depths of space with a mission that could not be greater: to save humanity. Where Mark Watney fought for his own survival, here it is about the survival of all. The drop height is greater, the distance to Earth even greater. But the crucial difference lies elsewhere: Grace is not alone.

This is due to Rocky, a stony alien who is also travelling alone, who also wants to save his world and who becomes the most important ally despite having a completely different physiology, language and perception. Before their encounter, «Project Hail Mary» is a solid survival film. Afterwards, it becomes the most beautiful bromance since «Turner & Hooch».

Because what happens between Grace and Rocky is more than just a partnership of convenience between two stranded people. It's a friendship that has to work through everything first: language, trust, understanding. The two of them feel their way towards each other like two children in the playground who don't speak the same language but still sense that the other is all right. This awkwardness gives rise to a warmth that carries the film.

Rocky is far more than just a clever sidekick. He is a character in his own right. Funny, wilful, vulnerable - and one of the best characters I've seen in a blockbuster in years. The fact that he looks completely non-human and yet conveys so many emotions is absolutely remarkable.

But there's so much more to it than that. Small and big moments that stick with you. Gags that arise from the collision of two completely different worlds. One-liners that come so casually that you almost overhear them - and yet still make me grin days later.

I could rave forever about one of the warmest buddy films of recent years. The fact that it is set in space and is actually about saving two worlds almost fades into the background. Until it comes back at the right moment with a force that leaves me speechless. Perhaps that is the greatest feat of this film: that the rescue of two worlds drives the plot forward, but never takes precedence over the friendship that gives the story its heart.

Just like in a good Pixar film.

Gosling, Fraser and the end of the green screen

The fact that this bromance works so well is of course also down to Ryan Gosling. He plays Ryland Grace with a charm that never imposes itself, a timing that can carry every punchline, and a lightness that easily disguises how much employees there are behind it.

Basically, Grace Gosling is a great actor.

Basically, Grace Gosling is pure form - funny, warm, a little awkward - and yet I sense that he's more invested here than in many of his other projects. Perhaps because he not only carries the film as the lead actor, but also shares responsibility as the main producer. You notice that. Not in individual scenes, but in the care with which the overall work is held together.

Part of this care is reflected in a decision that made headlines even before the film was released: «Project Hail Mary» was shot entirely without a green screen. This does not mean that the film is without special effects - it contains over 2000 VFX shots, ILM built the space digitally and Framestore brought Rocky to life as a mixture of puppetry and animation.

But the entire interior of the ship was physically built, Rocky was actually on set as a puppet, and instead of a green wall, the crew used backgrounds whose colours corresponded to the light of the respective scene. You can see the difference immediately: the light on Gosling's face is right in every shot because it's not simulated, it's real. Everything feels tangible - as if you were on board yourself.

The fact that Greig Fraser is behind the camera is hardly surprising. Fraser is one of the best cinematographers in the world - he co-developed the stagecraft technology for «The Mandalorian» and «Rogue One», «The Batman» and both «Dune» films, where he also consistently avoided green screens.

For «Project Hail Mary» he cancelled «The Batman 2» and even «Dune: Part 3»because their shooting schedules overlapped. What he delivered in return is a film that is one of the most beautiful of the year. No question: «Project Hail Mary» is not a film that was made on the side. It is a film that everyone involved believed in. You can see that. You can feel it.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.

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