This sci-fi epic has much to admire: two nail-biting challenges woven into an unsettling premise; well-sculpted characters brought to life by a top-notch cast; sensational special effects; and occasional dollops of cheeky humor.
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| Alone aboard an interstellar starship, filled with unanswered questions concerning a mission he doesn't fully remember, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is further surprised by something entirely unexpected. |
This pounding, so-called “music” pretty much ruins the film.
What the heck were Lord and Miller thinking?
In some ways, this film — adapted by Drew Goddard, from sci-fi author Andy Weir’s 2021 novel of the same title — feels like a third-generation descendent of 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. But director Stanley Kubrick knew how to use music ... and, more importantly, what kind of music, and when not to use it, thereby allowing the unfolding story to speak for itself.
Even so, this saga’s hook is a corker. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakens abruptly, and uncomfortably, in some sort of cocoon. After thrashing his way out, frightened by the autoboots attempting to help, he stumbles aboard what we realize is some sort of deep-space ship. But Grace has amnesia: no idea how he got here, and initially not even who he is.
To make matters worse, he discovers that his only two shipmates — also cocooned — are dead, something having failed in their life-support system.
Grace is alone. And terrified.
His memory returns in fits and starts, establishing the many flashbacks that eventually supply answers; these continue to be intercut, throughout the entire film, with Grace’s ongoing present-day predicament.
He recalls being a junior high school science teacher, beloved by his students, one of whom hits him with an uncomfortable question. We thus learn of the “Petrova line” of particles radiating from our Sun to Venus, draining the former’s intensity. Unless something is done, the dimming heat will plunge Earth into a catastrophic ice age within 30 years.
Grace is approached by Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller), accompanied by stern government types who include Carl (Lionel Boyce). Stratt, who introduces herself as the head of a multinational task force assembled to solve the problem, knows Grace’s back-story: He’s a brilliant molecular biologist blackballed after boldly insisting that one of his field’s leading researcher’s work is stuffed full of wild blueberry muffins.
Stratt’s team has samples of the Petrova line, obtained from a space probe sent to Venus; she wants Grace to analyze them. After some trial and error — money and equipment supplied immediately, as needed — Grace determines that the Petrova line is composed of single-celled organisms that “breed” by absorbing energy from the Sun, and carbon dioxide from Venus. He dubs this organism “astrophage.”
The process by which Grace and Carl learn this much is the first of the film’s many delightful sequences, laced with spit-and-bailing-wire inspiration, countless trips to a big-box hardware store, frustrating setbacks and bursts of gallows humor. Stratt oversees it all with grim intensity.
Celestial scans have revealed that astrophage also has dimmed other nearby stars ... except for one: Tau Ceti, which somehow resists the infection.
Back in the present, Grace has learned that he’s on an interstellar starship dubbed the Hail Mary, on final approach to the Tau Ceti system, 12 light-years from Earth. The journey has taken a decade, during which he was in hibernation sleep. He also has deduced what he was sent to do ... but still has no memory of how he became a crew member.
Upon arrival, he’s astonished to see the Hail Mary dwarfed by an enormous alien ship. Despite a lack of pilot training, Grace tries to flee, but the alien ship parallels his course. After abandoning this effort, the Hail Mary stops ... and then something aboard the alien ship attempts to communicate.
This sequence is fascinating. It’s also the point at which the story’s initial “save Earth” plotline is joined by an equally important “first contact” puzzle, very much in the mold of 2016’s Arrival.
About which nothing further will be discussed. (Spoilers, y’know ... although this film’s trailer reveals far too much. Try to avoid it.)
Gosling is wholly persuasive as a scientist. He looks and dresses like a mild-mannered geek: a bit socially inept, and frequently overwhelmed by the enormity of what Stratt has dragged him into ... and also intimidated by her. Gosling adds emotional heft from the way Grace frequently adjusts his glasses; it isn’t exactly a nervous tic, but more of a contemplative one.
Hüller, on a roll after the attention she garnered from her Oscar nomination for 2024’s Anatomy of a Fall, is superb as the intense, circumspect and no-nonsense Stratt. We don’t doubt for a second that she’s capable of overseeing this massive project. Although clearly respecting Grace’s genius and abilities, she also grows weary of his occasional lack of confidence, and the emotional roadblocks he erects, as his involvement becomes increasingly crucial.
Hüller’s steely eyed gaze speaks volumes, and we wonder if she’ll ever smile.
Boyce stands out as the affable, good-humored Carl, occasionally boosting Grace’s confidence. Despite their growing friendship, though, it’s obvious that Carl takes orders from Stratt quite seriously.
James Ortiz does herculean work in a role that won’t be discussed here. Suffice to say, his contribution is amazing.
Goddard’s script retains the novel’s crucial moral. This is a story about faith: faith in people, and faith in collaboration. The sci-fi trappings amplify the necessity of being open to another’s point of view, and of having to listen. As producer Amy Pascal clarifies, in this film’s press notes, “You must understand where someone else is coming from, or you can’t save the world.”
Production designer Charles Wood does a fabulous job of establishing credible environments: both the Hail Mary’s interior; and the massive scientific complex, initially land-based, and later moved aboard an aircraft carrier. (The work is dangerous, and a misstep could destroy something the size of California.)
Visual effects supervisor Paul Lambert — a four-time Oscar winner, for Blade Runner 2049, First Man and both Dune entries — does an equally fine job. The celestial majesty of deep space, and the Tau Ceti system, are matched by every aspect of this saga’s first contact details.
All this said, the film occasionally drags during its 156 minutes, mostly because Lord and Miller sledge-hammer some of the story’s most intense moments, at unnecessary length. This is particularly true during the final 20 minutes, when — more than once, during Wednesday evening’s IMAX preview screening — I felt like saying, “Enough, already; we get it!”
Given that affectation, alongside Pemberton’s similarly overcooked score, it feels like Lord and Miller didn’t trust the story to succeed on its own merits.
That’s unfortunate. Weir was treated much better by director Ridley Scott’s 2015 adaptation of The Martian.
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