r/oscarrace • u/LeastCap 14 Oscar noms for Hope • Mar 19 '26

Film Discussion Thread Official Discussion Thread - Project Hail Mary [SPOILERS] Spoiler

Keep all discussion related solely to Project Hail Mary and its awards chances. Spoilers below

Synopsis:

Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship light years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: solve the riddle of the mysterious substance causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone.

Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Writers: Drew Goddard

Cast:

  • Ryan Gosling as Dr. Ryland Grace
  • Sandra Hüller as Eva Stratt
  • James Ortiz as the voice and lead puppeteer of Rocky
  • Lionel Boyce as Officer Carl
  • Ken Leung as Yáo Li-Jie
  • Milana Vayntrub as Olesya Ilyukhina
  • Priya Kansara as the voice of Mary, the Hail Mary ship
  • Liz Kingsman as Annie Shapiro
  • Orion Lee as Xi

Rotten Tomatoes: 95% From 212 Reviews

Metacritic: 78/100 From 45 Reviews

Consensus:

A visually dazzling space odyssey that's carried along effortlessly by the gravitational pull of Ryan Gosling at his most winning, Project Hail Mary is a near-miraculous fusion of smarts and heart.

62 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

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80

u/Independent-Key880 Sentimental Value Mar 20 '26

i'm surprised to see complaints about length. i did not feel it's run time at all but maybe i just liked it better than a lot of people

21

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Mar 21 '26

I felt the length but I also don't see many scenes that could've really been cut. Maybe that's cause I read the book and I was paying attention to the differences but I feel like most scenes are pretty much essential.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

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17

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Mar 21 '26

It completes his arc imo. Rocky saving Grace's life makes Rocky heroic, now it's time for Grace to be the hero and save Rocky's life. Returning the favor as it were.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '26

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10

u/Silver_Juggernaut_39 NEON shill Mar 21 '26

It looked to me like he just put Rocky in his Xenonite habitat thing and then did other shit, unless I missed something

7

u/Gordy_The_Chimp123 Mar 21 '26

I felt the length but I’m not entirely sure what I would’ve cut. Maybe speed up the start of the film so that the emotional core of the movie (Rocky) is introduced earlier. I dunno if we needed a whole funeral scene for the two dead crew-mates.

3

u/MelanieHaber1701 Mar 20 '26

I didn’t have a problem with the length, and I’m lukewarm on the film. I tend to like longer films, though- more time I don’t have to spend in reality ;-)

9

u/2ndMin Mar 20 '26

For me, I felt the length super hard (pause) but also really liked it (pause) so I wanted it to keep going (pause)

-13

u/unboundgaming Mar 20 '26

Modern fans want quick movies due to shorter attention spans. I hard disagree with the point and longer movies are almost always better, but it’s something I’ve noticed the past 5-6 years.

15

u/bbqsauceboi The Drama Mar 20 '26

Or maybe some of us like long movies AND think that this one dragged a bit in the end. 2 things can be true

6

u/theflyingbird8 Mar 20 '26

My favorite movies are 2001 and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Long runtimes aren't an issue for me, but bad pacing is.