Originally a heavy science fiction novel by Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary is a story about Ryland Grace, a science teacher, who wakes up with amnesia in a space ship millions of lightyears from earth, sent to study space algae that feed on stars as a last-resort mission to save the Sun from dying. Torn between his duties up in the stars and his life back on Earth, Grace has to use memories to gain leverage over the spaceship’s advanced technology. The story has gotten praise from thousands of readers, and has gotten a whopping 94% liking on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a rare sight on such a diverse review website.

If I had to rate the movie on how much I enjoyed it, my approval would surpass the traditional scale of 1-10. The cinematography and CGI effects were nothing short of phenomenal. After reading the book, I was concerned about how much of the plot would be subtracted from the final cut. However, aside from the little parts, the movie didn’t even come close to disappointing me. Across all of social media, similar opinions are being shared, declaring the movie a perfect film adaptation. While I would have personally adored to see the small details be shot in film, I believe the final cut was perfect.

Now, I’m not necessarily a fan of overused actors. Ryan Gosling, Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Hart, and Leonardo DiCaprio are some of the most mainstream actors that come to mind. I hate it. In fact, I’d go so far as to say I will flat-out refuse to watch a movie if an overexposed actor is casted for a role that millions of other less-popular actors could have easily played. Now, keep that in mind when I say that Ryan Gosling went above and beyond for Project Hail Mary. Other than looking exactly how I pictured Ryland Grace, Gosling produced realistic emotions for how a character in that situation would react. His ability to replicate desperation and longing goes beyond just “good acting.” In many interviews, Gosling refers to the movie as his “passion project,” which explains why his acting was so, for lack of a more suitable word, passionate.

In full truth, I would recommend this movie to anyone I know, and already have recommended it many times this month alone. The effects, the story, the unfiltered emotion, the sci-fi drama plotline, and many other notable features of the film conclude to be the best film I’ve ever seen. If I had the chance, I’d pay a lot of money to be able to watch it for the first time again. Overall, I’d give this movie a big thumbs down.