Project Hail Mary brings out the “buoyant humor and heartfelt emotion,” as early critics praised Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s first directing effort in 12 years.

Official reviews for Project Hail Mary dropped ahead of its March 20 release, with critics largely praising the film. The movie, starring Ryan Gosling, adapts Andy Weir’s bestselling novel.

The film follows astronaut Ryland Grace, played by Gosling, who wakes aboard a spacecraft suffering from amnesia. As his memories return, he realises he is on a mission to save Earth and must rely on an alien lifeform he names Rocky to complete the task.

However, some reviews praised the creator's effort in bringing the “soaring interplanetary buddy movie,” while others noted Gosling's efforts to “keep it watchable.”

“What’s most gratifying is the extent to which the filmmakers sought practical solutions and physical sets rather than relying solely on the digital toolbox or flattening the action with endless green-screen sequences,” The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney wrote in his review.

Rooney loves the film and noted that, “The emphasis on in-camera effects makes a massive difference to the wraparound feel of the experience.”

Not all critics were equally sold on Project Hail Mary. Writing for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw offered a more reserved take, describing the film as appealing but ultimately lightweight.

He praised Ryan Gosling as “an effortlessly charming screen player” who “keeps it watchable,” even as the film slips into stretches of dullness and what he called a “puppyish silliness.”

Bradshaw also noted the film doesn’t chase the cosmic awe of sci-fi epics like Interstellar, instead leaning on familiar genre staples such as vast spacecraft interiors and labyrinth-like corridors where “legacy pop music is played to soothe the inhabitants.”

Meanwhile, BBC film critic Nicholas Barber firmly falls into the film’s “love it” camp, calling Project Hail Mary “surprisingly shiny and fun for a story about the potential extinction of the human race.”

He praised Gosling’s performance and the film’s structure, noting directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller deliberately embraced a bright, breezy tone. Barber highlighted how the lengthy sci-fi epic relies less on action and more on complex ideas, scientific problem-solving, and technical puzzles; yet it still manages to stay consistently entertaining throughout.

Project Hail Mary arrives in theatres on March 20.