Ryan Gosling’s latest film, “Project Hail Mary,” was a gorgeously shot film with great acting all around. More than cinematography and acting, though, it also encouraged a subtle message of unity in a time when many could use a reminder on the importance of connection and communication. The film, unlike many recent movies, opts for a lesson that is shown, not shoved down the audience’s throats. As movies should do, it trusts the audience to come to realizations on their own.
Gosling’s character, Dr. Ryland Grace, meets an alien, Rocky, while on a space mission. He’s alone and scared, and his initial reaction is to flee the alien ship approaching him. When that fails, he accepts an invitation forcommunication from a great distance — an agreement to send messages to one another in the form of containers. These containers have objects representing where they are from and what they are doing. When that builds enough trust between the pair, Grace ventures out of his ship to that of the alien. In doing so, a bridge connecting the two is created, offering a chance at face-to-face communication.
Delivered in a discrete manner, this lesson allows the conclusion to be drawn by each viewer, hopefully leading to a stronger impact — one which doesn’t cease to exist the moment viewers leave the theater. This is important in understanding why the message pushed is as such. It doesn’t take much for your everyday person to look around and see a startling lack of community, understanding and unity, particularly for those considered different. Grace, despite his fears, learns first and foremost how to understand Rocky, translating each sound to something he can understand himself.
The pair learns they have the same goal, similar experiences and many shared emotions. They go beyond the simple motivation of saving their respective worlds; they form a bond and a close friendship. This love and care stretches far beyond even our already excessive views of categorization, as they are literal aliens to one another and differ in just about every sense. The idea that two beings from entirely different solar systems could work together, played for an audience living in a world where people in the same town can hate one another for entirely arbitrary and self-imposed differences, makes the message of the film all that more glaringly apparent.
Both Grace and Rocky have to adjust to get along, more or less (Grace was annoyed with Rocky at points). However, neither held an expectation that they had any say in what the other should be willing to alter to get along. Grace didn’t understand all of Rocky’s practices, but he accepted them and worked to understand as much as he could, and vice versa.
Along with the idea of community, “Project Hail Mary” has an overall emphasis on the good of humanity. By framing the scenario as one where the two main characters leave the traditional categories of human and non-human, the film emphasizes humans as one group as opposed to focusing on the smaller divisions we’ve created and chosen to concentrate on. We also see a general feel-good ending, as well as a variety of moments throughout the film that show hope and beauty. Dealing with something as universally considered amazing as outer space, the film gives the audience a chance to marvel at the wonder of the world we live in. In doing so, there’s a comfortable balance of learning and lessons with a positive, hopeful feeling.
“Project Hail Mary” manages to bring contemporary issues to the forefront and offer a reminder about their origins and their foundational solutions. It brings human issues to outer space, where they can be distanced from whatever biases an audience member might bring into the film, allowing each individual to learn the lessons woven into the movie in hopes of encouraging unity and communication. In doing so, “Project Hail Mary” offers hope and positivity, helped immensely by the charm of Gosling and the arguably uncontrollable urge for the viewer to relate and aspire to his character. Grace, in his dynamic with Rocky, ultimately emphasizes the importance of understanding, sacrifice, care and community.