Project Hail Mary (2026)

The film is witty, wise and preposterously entertaining, an old-school crowdpleaser with Lord and Miller’s joyful direction, Gosling’s charismatic turn and a warm buddy dynamic with the alien Rocky. It is a space-smash about clever speculative concepts, though slightly lengthy with one ending too many.

The critic praises the film's warm, human-centered sci-fi story and Ryan Gosling's charming performance as the amnesiac astronaut, highlighting the heartwarming cross-species buddy dynamic with the alien Rocky and its Spielberg-like sense of wonder. It notes the film is slightly overlong but remains engaging and reassuring overall.

The critic calls it a sci-fi dazzler and top-shelf nostalgia that blends past greats like Spielberg and Kubrick into a familiar yet fresh package. It is immensely likeable and technically impressive thanks to Gosling and Hüller’s pairing and digestible science, though it carries a whiff of retro comfort.

The review highlights large-scale sci-fi with tons of heart, focusing on the film’s emotional core and spectacle in the vein of The Martian.

The critic finds the film entertaining but overly reliant on jokes that undercut its sincerity and intelligence, noting it succeeds more as a crowd-pleasing, childlike sci-fi adventure than a deeper exploration.

The review describes the film as enormously entertaining and genuinely inspiring, praising the adaptation's focus on the lead's partnership with the alien character and its blend of process and wonder.

The review praises the comedic spin on the novel's premise, highlighting the buddy dynamic between the human and alien leads and the film's optimistic tone, while noting some drag from flashbacks.

The film is a bit silly with moments of dullness and puppyish silliness, but Ryan Gosling’s effortless charm keeps it watchable as a breezy, unserious sci-fi adventure.

The critic calls the film a soaring interplanetary buddy movie that demonstrates the directors' knack for buoyant humor and heartfelt emotion. Gosling's performance is singled out for striking the right balance between comedy and sincerity.

The critic praises the film as an upbeat, feather-light science-fiction fantasy that embraces the beauty, mystery, and playfulness of outer space rather than its terrors. Gosling is singled out as an impeccable fit for the humor and vulnerability of the reluctant hero role.

The insistently feelgood, thunderously dumb sci-fi adventure tries too hard to be loved and is a cynically calculated crowd-pleaser with a lazy, coincidence-driven plot, though the human-alien friendship is warm and the alien design original.

Ryan Gosling teams up with a cute alien to save Earth in a zippy, nourishing buddy-movie space epic that is great fun, with excellent practical effects and heart-warming story.

Ryan Gosling’s charisma and deadpan irreverence power this brainy but funny sci-fi spectacular about a stranded astronaut to the highest entertainment orbit; Gosling is perfectly cast.

The critic calls it the first great film of 2026, praising Lord and Miller's return to directing with a grand, hilarious, emotional, and awe-inspiring sci-fi epic adapted from Andy Weir's novel. Gosling's lead performance and the central human-alien friendship with Rocky are singled out as highlights that make the film sing.

The critic finds the film everything fans hoped for and a worthy companion to The Martian, delivering a funny, strange, heartening, and completely satisfying adaptation. It excels through its lively emotional core, character-driven problem-solving focus, and the winning blend of humor and stakes in the central bromance with the alien Rocky.

The film succeeds as an entertaining and engaging science fiction story that emphasizes humanity and connection over hardware or destruction. It stands out for its intimate use of large-scale Imax visuals, Gosling's strong lead performance, and the heartwarming buddy dynamic with the alien Rocky.

Lord and Miller deliver a thrilling, attractive outer space adventure-comedy with drama that moves the viewer, evoking wonder through epic visuals and optimistic storytelling without contrived conflict. The film excels in its human story of hope and the central relationship but could have built more suspense in the third act.

The film is a satisfying and charming space odyssey that turns Andy Weir's hard sci-fi premise into accessible, propulsive popcorn entertainment with an interspecies buddy dynamic at its heart. The critic singles out the visual thoughtfulness of the space sequences and the puppeteered alien sidekick for praise, while noting the overlong runtime from excessive flashbacks as a minor flaw.