Project Hail Mary

I wrote some time ago that my youngest brother cannot sit still at the theatres (“When is the movie going to end?”). I also wrote that there was only one screening he sat still: Avatar. It has become time to correct that. My brother sat still, the screen glistening in his eyes, through the entirety of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary twice in the cinemas.

Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship with amnesia. Through memory recollections, bits of his life appear to him. He was the ‘cool’ middle-school science teacher. His work attracted the attention of Eva Stratt, the head of the Petrova Task Force, a global effort formed after a mysterious microbe (“Astrophage”) began draining energy from the sun.

Grace was chosen to study Astrophage and help develop a way to use it as fuel for a mission to a star immune to the dimming of the Astrophage. As part of Project Hail Mary, scientists would go to the star, and send their findings back to Earth. The fuel would only cover the way to the star. Grace was chosen to go.

Initially, this was Grace’s mindset: “What! No way, I’m staying; I want to live. I'm gonna die here with everyone else.” He steers clear of the mission to save Earth (until he’s forced into going).

For me, this is completely understandable. In fact, his reaction reflects how most people would respond; when faced with death, self-preservation often comes first. In this sense, Grace represents ordinary humans - not a hero, but someone driven by fear, instinct, and the desire to survive.

While in space, he makes contact with an intelligent alien he dubs “Rocky” (a name true to his appearance). After a bout of screaming, they realise they have a common goal: save their stars and return home. Their relationship begins to change, gradually reshaping Grace’s perspective.

Prior to Rocky’s arrival, Grace was in a state of fixed isolation and loneliness, the burden rendering him unable to breathe, metaphorically and physically. (When Grace first met Rocky inside a tunnel between their spaceships, Grace followed Rocky’s commands and took his helmet off, allowing him to breathe, a turning point in their relationship.)

However, Rocky reshapes his priorities. They support each other in their work, showing genuine care for each other. The deeper he acknowledges what is at stake, the more he grapples with the consequences of his actions and the sacrifices he may have to make. I wish, and I bet many others would, that I had a friend just like Rocky — my friend Bodhi certainly does; he calls Rocky his all-time favourite character now. (In one scene, Rocky grows to truly understand Grace. When he discusses his ex-wife, saying she was now with Mark, Rocky replies: “Rocky hate Mark.”)

Grace and Rocky each possess knowledge the other lacks, and only by combining their strengths can they solve the seemingly impossible problem threatening their civilisations. When faced with fear, uncertainty, and the limits of communication, their solution lies in cooperating - following the scientific method and building answers step by step.

This idea extends to a global scale. In the face of the sun dimming from Astrophage, nations unite to solve the problem. However, it’s revealed through Stratt that this obviously won’t stay the same way.

She reveals in 30 years alone, ¼ of the population could die, and that’s only if the world cooperates, “which they won’t.” There would be wars and the breakdown of alliances, all which would deplete the population further to ½. From this, Project Hail Mary tells us while most crises are unavoidable, we must work together to undo as much of the damage as possible.

In a way, this reflects the world we live in today, when global crises demand cooperation, yet people often fail to act together.

Project Hail Mary conceptualises that cooperation is not merely practical, but essential; it is the bridge that turns isolated efforts into collective success, and despair into hope. If Grace had never encountered Rocky, would he still have succeeded on his mission?