Project Hail Mary

“Stupidly entertaining” ★★★★ Empire

From the directors of such blockbuster delights as The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street comes this sci-fi treat from the writer of The Martian. Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) has been sent on a space mission to save the Earth’s sun. But when he awakes from an induced coma to find the rest of the crew dead and no sense of how he is supposed to save the planet, it takes scientist Eva Stratt (Anatomy of a Fall’s Sandra Hüller) and a sentient space rock to put him on the trajectory for success.

It is a rare star who has the charisma to sustain a solo space quest, but Ryan Gosling’s – post Ken-naissance – is definitely that man. Able to land graceful, light humour, as well as the awe of interstellar travel, this is a beautiful trip to the stars that captures the world of novel with the grace of a shooting star.