I finally got around to Project Hail Mary, and I canât quite shake it.
Everyone talks about the interstellar bromance (which, to be fair, is genuinely great). The relationship between Grace and Rocky is probably one of the most compelling parts of the whole storyâtwo completely different beings figuring each other out, choosing to cooperate, choosing loyalty.
But the more I think about it, the more it feels like the story is doing something deeper⊠and then stopping just short of it.
The mission itself is a âHail Mary.â A last desperate attempt. But that phrase originally comes from a prayerâan appeal for help when youâve reached the end of what you can do yourself.
And the structure of that is still there in the story.
Humanity isnât enough. So it reaches outward.
And something answers.
But whatâs interesting is what answers.
The film gives us something realâconnection, sacrifice, even transformation in a sense. But it all happens⊠laterally. From the side. It helps, it even saves, but it doesnât quite reach whatever the deeper problem actually is.
So the question I keep coming back to is:
is what answers the cry⊠actually capable of answering what the cry is for?
I donât think the story fully resolves that.
And thatâs kind of what makes it stick with you.
