First Reactions To Ryan Gosling's Project Hail Mary Have Everyone Saying The Same Thing

The first reactions are in for "Project Hail Mary," the latest blockbuster from Christopher Miller and Phil Lord — and people who got the chance to see this film early are hailing it as a masterpiece.

On the social media site X, lucky cinephiles who have already seen "Project Hail Mary," which stars Ryan Gosling as astronaut Dr. Ryland Grace and which is written by sci-fi king Drew Goddard, are already soundly praising the movie. Media personality Brandon Davis declared in his post, "'Project Hail Mary' is the best movie I've seen this year. Masterpiece. The visuals delivered here are tremendously innovative, bending IMAX to its maximum capabilities. It's unrelentingly creative and rocks with ideas of connection and humanity. Brilliant movie." Film YouTuber @imPatrickT agreed, writing, "'Project Hail Mary' is one of the greatest space adventure films of all time. It's gorgeous, full of heart, and Gosling is spectacular. He gave his all to this one and you'll be in awe. If you've fallen out of love with going to the movies, I promise this one will win you back."

Again, it's safe to say the consensus was pretty unanimous, and multiple people went to far as to call the film a "masterpiece" besides Davis — like film and TV journalist Scott Menzel. In a lengthy post that takes full advantage of the platform's longer word limits for verified accounts, Menzel called the film an "epic cinematic achievement" and noted that "[co-directors Lord and Miller] somehow manage to raise the bar once again, delivering what is not only their most ambitious film to date, but arguably their most accomplished." As he concluded the post, he wrote, "I rarely use the M word but Project Hail Mary is a masterpiece and very likely a major awards player across the board."

The reactions to "Project Hail Mary" are overwhelmingly positive, including one from Bill Bria, who writes for Looper's sister site /Film. "'Project Hail Mary' is a nuanced, gorgeous, humanistic marvel," Bria mused on X. "Ryan Gosling gives one of his best performances, Lord & Miller prove their gifts for color & choreography flourish in sci-fi, the film's effects recall 'Star Trek 1979.' In a galaxy of space films, it's brilliantly unique."

This was a pretty common sentiment across the board, actually. Gizmodo and iO9 writer Germain Lussier agreed, writing, "'Project Hail Mary' is pure joy. Hilarious, heartfelt, hugely moving, wildly exciting and absolutely beautiful. The 160 minutes go by in an instant as Lord and Miller keep Weir's narrative moving like a rocket ship. Gosling is better than ever and the Rocky effect and mind blowing." (Rocky, for the uninitiated, is a small alien life form who befriends Dr. Ryland Grace during an important mission — more on that shortly.) Critic Scott Mantz also soundly praised the movie in his post, calling the film "an awe-inspiring & sublimely beautiful masterpiece" that's "loaded with heart, humor, excitement & a deeply moving story!"

A few others honed in on Ryan Gosling's performance, like Gregory Ellwood from The Playlist. "Ryan Gosling is utterly fantastic in 'Project Hail Mary," he wrote, also saying, "[the] movie also has some incredibly directed sequences that will make you gasp." Critic Eric Marchen agreed, writing, "Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's must-see space odyssey blasts off as the first great blockbuster of 2026. Out-of-this-world cinematography from Greig Fraser reaches for the stars while anchored by a stellar Ryan Gosling performance." So what is "Project Hail Mary" about in the first place?

Thankfully — for many reasons — "Project Hail Mary" is not based on a true story. Instead, Phil Lord and Chris Miller adapted this story from Andy Weir's bestselling 2021 novel ... and if that name sounds familiar, it's because Weir also wrote "The Martian," which became a blockbuster film in 2015 with Matt Damon at the helm and Ridley Scott behind the camera. So what do you need to know about "Project Hail Mary" before you see the movie that many critics and journalists are hailing as one of 2026's first real masterpieces?

The story begins when Ryan Gosling's protagonist Dr. Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship, initially unaware of how he got there in the first place — only to quickly learn that he's the only survivor aboard the ship, which is headed towards a star called Tau Ceti. Ryland, as it happens, is also tasked with saving the fate of Earth, and though he thinks he's completely alone, he has some help from a small alien form he names Rocky (puppeteered and voiced by James Ortiz) who's also on a mission to save the universe.

Lord and Miller are, frankly, directors who can handle any source material that gets thrown their way — for crying out loud, they made two "21 Jump Street" reboot movies that were actually amazing — and Gosling, who's one of our best actors, is flanked by other great performers like Sandra Hüller, Ken Leung, and Lionel Boyce, just to name a few. "Project Hail Mary" hits theaters on March 20, 2026 ... so get excited.