Waking up on a mysterious spaceship, school teacher and passionate biologist Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) has to rely on his fractured memory to piece back together not only how he got there, but why he is there. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), and adapted for cinema by Drew Goddard (The Martian) from the Andy Weir novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary instantly pulls the viewer into its intriguing enigma, and what follows is one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made.

Known for his outstanding earlier novels The Martian and Artemis (also soon to be adapted by Lord and Miller), renowned sci-fi author Andy Weir constructed a stunning sci-fi world with Project Hail Mary, which could have only been a dream to translate to the big screen. Just like with Ridley Scott’s take on The Martian, Weir’s grounded use of science within his storytelling shines through wonderfully. It makes for a compelling watch as you attempt to figure out each urgent situation alongside the protagonist.

During Ryland’s flashbacks, we discover that single-celled spaceborne organisms named Astrophage are draining the energy from the Sun, setting Earth on a course to catastrophe, and doing the same to all nearby stars – except for a distant star called Tau Ceti, which has somehow not been affected. The government-appointed agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) assembles the finest team of astronauts and scientists the world has to offer, and sends them on a one-way deep space mission to Tau Ceti to find out how they can fix our sun. Due to his history with molecular biology, Eva recruits Ryland to find out a possible way of combatting Astrophage. But Ryland’s no astronaut, so how did he end up on the Hail Mary himself?

Backed by a stunning and commanding soundtrack from Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), alongside beautiful cinematography from Greig Fraser (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Dune, The Batman), the creative energy and passion from everyone involved is on display through every single frame. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also used no green or blue screens, which not only makes you appreciate the movie even more, grounding the story within a believable setting.

If you’ve seen any trailer for Project Hail Mary, then you’ve probably witnessed an alien character called Rocky. Voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz, the dynamic between Grace and Rocky has already become iconic. The pair share fascinating moments of humour, joy, and complete fear, as they team up to save both their species. It’s quite simply, “Amaze. Amaze. Amaze.”

In its later act, we see huge, beautiful, sweeping sci-fi sequences that have you mesmerised, which eventually leads to – just like the book – a satisfying ending. With what comes across as three huge narrative sections that differ rewardingly from each other, and an ending that ties everything neatly together, the storytelling pace of Project Hail Mary is flawless. It’s a perfect balance.

Thanks to movies like Interstellar, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Dune, sci-fi has found success with a more serious tone in recent years, but Project Hail Mary is something for everyone. It’s almost Spielberg-esque in its approach. Capturing the monumental tone of the book in a grand scale that you could not be prepared for, it is sci-fi at its absolute best.