“Project Hail Mary,” released on March 20, is a film adaptation of the novel by Andy Weir, and stars Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace.

With no memory of how he arrived, scientist and former teacher Ryland Grace awakens alone aboard a spaceship. As fragments of his memory slowly return, he realizes he is humanity’s last hope in a desperate mission to stop the sun from dying. The dimming of the sun was caused by a substance called astrophage, which is draining the sun’s energy and will trigger a catastrophic global cooling on Earth within 30 years.

Grace learns that astrophage is impenetrable to electromagnetic radiation and can only breed on Venus. However, it is able to provide a very efficient rocket engine. This discovery leads to the creation of Project Hail Mary, a mission to travel to a nearby star system that has not been affected, hoping to find a solution.

During his journey, Grace encounters an alien spacecraft made of solid xenon. Inside, Grace meets an alien he names “Rocky,” a rock-like being who only sees through echolocation. Using a translation device, Grace and Rocky learn to communicate and soon discover they share the same mission: to save their respectable worlds from astrophage. 

Together, Grace and Rocky discover a planet, Tau Ceti e, which harbors an organism that preys on astrophage. Grace finds a way to breed the astrophage-consuming organism. However, when a failure threatens Rocky’s mission, Grace faces a defining choice: return to Earth with the solution or risk everything to save his friend. He ultimately sends the data back to Earth through probes and chooses to help Rocky. 

The film ends with Rocky’s species creating a biodome where Grace can survive. Similar to before, Grace returns to teaching, but this time with young Eridian children.