It’s nice to have hope sometimes.

In Ryan Gosling’s latest, he’s a scientist stranded millions of miles from home who discovers he’s the last hope for humanity. 

Gosling is disgraced molecular biologist Ryland Grace, teaching middle school after he told the scientific establishment to essentially stick it. But, a new threat to Earth looks to prove his theories correct. He’s recruited to be part of a scientific “Hail Mary” mission to find out why an alien microbe is causing the sun to dim. While the governments of the world are downplaying it, if this effect isn’t stopped, life on Earth is threatened. The microbes, first seen in an astronomic event later dubbed a “Petrova line,” have caused suns across the galaxy to lose power. 

The science is fun, like it was in the film based on Andy Weir’s previous novel, “The Martian.” But while Matt Damon had to do a lot of talking to himself, in “Project Hail Mary,” Grace gets a pal – another alien scientist seeking the same answers. 

Both Grace and his new pal, a rocklike alien Grace dubs “Rocky,” are in the Tau Ceti system, 11.9 light-years from Earth, where Grace woke after an induced coma and had to deduce his mission as the sole survivor of his three-person crew. Through flashbacks, we learn how Grace discovered how the microbe, called “astrophage,” works to absorb radiation from the Sun and use the energy for propulsion. The astrophage, the very organism killing the Earth, would become the fuel for Hail Mary, as the science team traveled light-years on an intended one-way mission to find out why the astrophage hadn’t destroyed Tau Ceti. 

The developing friendship between the very different Grace and Rocky, who initially can’t even communicate, gives some hope for humanity teaming up to face long odds in dire situations.

Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller bring reality and humanity to the many practical sets of the film. Despite the far-flung events, the story feels grounded. James Ortiz provides incredible texture as Rocky, and Sandra Hüller is properly enigmatic as the head of the multinational taskforce seeking to find the cause of and solution to the Petrova line problem. 

There’s a lot of inspiration to take from “Hail Mary,” including that we can’t always choose our circumstances, but we can choose to reach out and trust our friends.  

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewlprice.com, has written about comics, film, and entertainment for more than two decades. He is the former features editor of The Oklahoman newspaper and the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman, Oklahoma.