WARNING: For those who missed the trailer for this film, the review will contain some mild-ish spoilers regarding certain characters and events.

When Ridley Scott’s The Martian did gangbusters in 2015, adapting another of Andy Weir’s novels was a bankable inevitability. Just over a decade later, the dynamic directing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have brought us the similarly sunny Project Hail Mary. The film follows Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) as he awakens on a spaceship, finding he’s the last alive of a three-strong crew and with no idea who he is or where he is.

As you’d expect from a Lord & Miller outing, Gosling gets plenty of room to flex his comedic chops, bringing an exaggerated energy to the role of Grace as he navigates the seemingly impossible situation he finds himself in. Gosling does get his introspective moments, but he’s certainly bringing more low-gravity levity than gravitas to the screen. Sandra Hüller’s performance as Eva Stratt is a perfect mirror to the zany Gosling: She brings a quiet, firm authority as the head of the titular project, with a few beautiful moments of humanity shining through.

Despite the subject matter – the Earth is getting a bit chilly, we’d better sort that out – the film is relentlessly upbeat, almost to its detriment. I’m not against a more happy and hopeful film, but it does occasionally stray into the overly saccharine. The film also fits under the umbrella of “Competency porn”, a term referring to media whereby we are watching extremely competent character(s) do their job really, really bloody well. These two things meant I was never quite invested in the tension the film tries to build; I wasn’t too feeling worried for Grace’s plight as I knew everything would be alright eventually. As a side note, I think this film could serve as a strange mirror to something grimmer like Sunshine (2007) with the two making for a very intersting double-bill.

The design for Grace’s alien friend and collaborator “Rocky” (James Ortiz) was intriguing, with the two forming a quick “buddy cop” type relationship. While the visual and sound design are good overall, some aspects stray into emotionally manipulative: It felt a little much that some of his mannerisms and sounds were so conveniently like those of a domesticated Earth animal.

There’s no denying that overall, the film is absolutely beautiful. From practical effects and puppetry to the design of some of the bigger visual effects sequences, you can really feel the love and care taken to make everything look interesting and authentic. The visual design for one particular sequence had a real “old-school” feel to it, calling back to the days when such sequences involved all sorts of clever in-camera tricks and was an absolute treat to watch on a big screen.

Where Project Hail Mary does stumble a little is in the pacing, as some parts of the film seem to race by in quick succession, while others make you really feel that 156-minute runtime. I expect the former is somewhat to do with bits being jettisoned in the adaption from page to screen; the latter is chiefly due to the film feeling like it’s got two or three endings.

Despite the pacing and relentless “hope-core” feel, I enjoyed the film greatly and I’d recommend it to even the most miserable and misanthropic person out there. It’s fun, a feast for the eyes and full of soul; just make sure you don’t drink too much before or during the movie.

And there you have it folks! My first film review in about two years, but who’s counting, eh? Now things are stabilising a little for me, I need to get back out there in the cinema and stay up-to-date with what’s on – and write about it for you! As ever I can be found on Letterboxd, Ko-Fi and (very rarely these days) on Twitter. Until next time, dear readers, take care!