Master Rank #378

Project Hail Mary

2026

GCML Total8.6840% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

CastRyan Gosling · Sandra Hüller · Lionel Boyce

USAEnglishScience Fiction / Adventure156 minPG-13
IMDb Top 250Narrative FeatureBrisk pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

Amnesiac astronaut Ryland Grace awakens alone near Tau Ceti and must rediscover a mission to stop Earth's sun from dimming.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Science teacher and former biologist Ryland Grace wakes alone aboard the Hail Mary with no memory of his identity or mission. Experiments reveal he has traveled to Tau Ceti to investigate the astrophage threatening Earth's sun, where an unexpected encounter changes the problem.

Why it belongs

Physical experiment, clear stakes, humor, and inventive cross-species communication make Project Hail Mary's hard-science problem solving cinematic.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Laboratory tools, changing gravity, diagrams, spacecraft scale, memory fragments, and the practical creation of shared language keep exposition active—Ryan Gosling's improvisational warmth makes scientific curiosity a form of companionship.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

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