As you, my online friends will know, I'm quite a self-deprecating character.

[ukfilmnerd@mastodon.me.uk]

As you, my online friends will know, I'm quite a self-deprecating character. I haven't written a film review in five months, so this one feels a bit wonky/rough/not as good as normal. Take your pick!

Review | Project Hail Mary (2026) | UKFilmNerd's Blog

Review | Project Hail Mary (2026)

Ryan’s portrayal of Grace as such a nice bloke stuck in a desperate situation is so well done, I just wanted to reach through the screen and give him a hug.

UKFilmNerd's Blog (ukfilmnerd.wordpress.com)

[anomnomnomaly@beige.party]

@UKFilmNerd

I loved the movie... I'd never heard of it, or the book and never saw a trailer or read a review.

I went into it not knowing a thing aside from the blurb that the metadata pulled from the internet... Which was the cast list and this

'In the near future, astronaut Ryland Grace wakes from a coma afflicted with amnesia. He gradually remembers that he was sent to the Tau Ceti solar system, 12 light-years from Earth, to find a means of reversing a solar dimming event that could cause the extinction of humanity.'

I've now watched the movie 3 times in the last couple of weeks.

When it's out on bluray, at a reasonable price... I'll pick up a copy.

[benjamincox@writing.exchange]

@UKFilmNerd I feel you in terms of writing. I often go months without watching or writing anything new. At times, I feel like I’m just churning out content without feeling any satisfaction.

[ukfilmnerd@mastodon.me.uk]

@benjamincox I just posted an article for a website yesterday, but it took me a long time to find something to write about.

I can't help but feel that everyone knows what I know and if I find an article online about said subject, it feels like that must mean everyone knows about it.

I have trouble acknowledging that the stuff I like is quite niche and not everyone knows about it, especially the younger audience.

[benjamincox@writing.exchange]

@UKFilmNerd Writing about older films feels especially hard because a) what else can be said and b) who else cares?

[ukfilmnerd@mastodon.me.uk]

@benjamincox I'm not a great critic, I can't delve into the deeper meanings of films because I just see what's in front of my eyes.

Come on, I really loved the Rebel Moon films!!

That's why my reviews are much more personal with links to related memories. It's all I've got!

[benjamincox@writing.exchange]

@UKFilmNerd Same here! Did I enjoy it or not? I’m not one for allegories or stuff like that!

[jupiter@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@UKFilmNerd what I don't get is why the book needs so much science information when the prerequisite - all stars infected at the same time / sol infected last and the tremendous coincidence that just after humans make it to Tau Ceti, and *intergalactic* (of all things) traveler also happens to be there, just at the same time and place...

I struggle to suspend my disbelief here. (less science and more bla bla in the vein of star trek would make it better)

[ukfilmnerd@mastodon.me.uk]

@jupiter I thoroughly enjoyed the Martian and I don't remember that level of scientific detail in the book.

As you may have read, and I agree, the level of scientific detail in PHM was just overkill. Maybe enough to progress the story, sure.

[jupiter@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@UKFilmNerd The Martian, apart from some dramatic embellishments, was pretty hard science fiction.
I watched it over 10 times and also read the book twice. The book had quite a bit more than the movie, also some things made more sense in context.

But yeah I'll wait till Hail Mary makes it to a streaming service or something

[pixeljones@mindly.social]

@UKFilmNerd

Good review! Funny, most people I follow had the opposite (but predictable) complaint, "The book was better! The science was everything and they left out so many good bits! Wahhh". I laugh because while I thoroughly enjoyed the book (and "hard" science fiction, in general) I'm actually shocked that they were able to release a "mere" 2 hour 45 minute movie that included as much science as they did.

Also, the movie got the can-do tone, humor and hopefulness just right. One of the best movies in the last decade, IMO. Hey, and the Motion Picture Academy has said puppeted characters are now eligible for best-supporting Oscar. Give James "Rocky" Ortiz a statue!

Also, take heart, all you book-was-better nerds, the film editor said they had a 6-hour rough cut they chopped down to 3.5-hours for the initial audience screener. (Which tested well even at that length.) So, there's plenty of material for an extended cut with the extra science you missed.