Project Hail Mary

 

Well, being that I'm laid up a bit after my accident, I finally had time to watch this movie, last night ... and I LOVED it!

This is the type of movie we used to make - heartwarming and inspirational - but now with flawed, real characters, which IMO is a nice addition and makes them more relatable.

It's like if like if E.T. and Armageddon had a baby, only with more science, the only warfare is against an interspace microbiological entity, and reluctant, unlikely heroes. 

Also, lots of people missed the spiritual subtext - and not just in the movie's title. 

First of all, for those who don't know, a "Hail Mary" isn't just a Catholic prayer - it's a football term used for a last-minute pass or play when there's virtually no hope for win - in other words, a play made on a prayer.

Also, the main character's last name is "Grace" and he is called "Grace" - duh?

Though he has a doctorate in microbiology, he now teaches middle school, after refusing to play politics in academia, as well as his inability to STOP thinking outside of the box and asking questions about accepted theories - not that he's unhappy, he LOVES teaching.

And as brave as he was in standing up for his theories, he realized that led him to nowhere but failure, as well as that not only were his peers wrong, but he was too. 

Thus, he doesn't speak up for anything now, doubts himself, and considers himself a failure.

Nevertheless, after a scientist discovers a strange arc line (named the Vetrova line after the scientist who discovered it) comprised of particles called "astrophages" extending from Venus to the sun, and are essentially "eating" the sun - he, along with several other microbiologists, are chosen to help research these particles for the potential of being living organisms, to study what they are comprised of, what they eat, how they reproduce, and thus what the relationship is specifically between Venus and the sun.

They also discover that other galaxies are suffering from the same phenomenon with the exception of one, and it is their job to figure out what is different about this galaxy - which is where he meets "Rocky" and they work together to find out.

I'm not going to spoil the answers for you, watch the movie - but the point is, he continually tells him that he got lucky, he's not the right person for this job, and yet they trust his ability to think outside of the box to solve this problem.

In other words, "Grace" is being given a second chance to trust himself, what gifts he's been given that he believed were his greatest flaws  - as well as trust that this is his destiny, even if he doesn't believe in himself. 

It also does have you asking yourself scientific questions that will take you back to high school or college chemistry.

Like when you find out the organism is comprised mostly of water - what "kills" water?

(Evaporation doesn't kill water, btw, it simply recycles it.)

The  only thing I could think of was nuclear fission, which of course, is not an option.

My second thought was could nitrogen play a role?

Like freeze them with liquid nitrogen - OR - since these organisms were creating their own ecosystem, could was somehow smother them out from the sunlight with nitrogen like algae does from too much nitrogen?

As it turns out, my second thought process on nitrogen playing a role does come into play, but first, they discover that we can actually USE astrophages by harnessing their energy as a source of power, after modification - AND - block them from eating the sun by keeping them in balance by creating some sort of nitrogen barrier.

(They don't get to exactly how that will be accomplished by the end, though.)

And if none of that stuff I just said is your thing, Ryan Gosling is in it - and you know how we ladies love us some Ryan Gosling 😂

Highly recommend!