Watching the movie adaptation before the book is a foreign concept to me, yet, here I am having done just that. Nonetheless I have to say I enjoyed my experience watching “Project Hail Mary.”

Andy Weir, best-selling author of “The Martian,” published “Project Hail Mary” in 2021. The movie adaptation with the same name hit theaters March 20, 2026. It features a science teacher and ex-biologist, Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who is unexpectedly recruited by the world governments. Scientists have discovered the sun is dimming due to a star-eating microbe called astrophage, and all life on Earth only has decades to live.

The film follows Grace’s journey as he wakes up from a coma on a spaceship and makes unlikely friends with a five-legged alien, named Rocky, played by James Ortiz, as he seeks to find more on the Petrova line — the line between the sun and the nearest planet.

This movie reminded me of one of my worst fears: being alone in space. The last movie that made me feel this was “Gravity” (2014). The idea of having no one to talk to, realizing you are floating on a hunk of metal in a vast void of matter is terrifying. Especially when you realize you don’t matter and could die at any time.

I won’t give too much away, but the themes of sacrifice raised a lot of questions for me. I think it is interesting how some people expect you to jump at the opportunity to be regarded as a savior. While these pursuits may be honorable, it is not wrong to deny the chance to be one if it truly does not align with what you seek as an individual.

I wish I would have watched the movie in theaters to see the cool astrophotography featured in the film on a larger screen.

While I don’t know whether or not this movie adaptation did the book justice, I believe this movie was, as Rocky would say, “Amaze” and I highly recommend it.