TL;DR: Project Hail Mary is the cinematic event of the spring for families with STEM-leaning kids. Starring Ryan Gosling and directed by the duo behind The LEGO Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it’s a high-stakes, science-accurate survival story that celebrates intelligence, sacrifice, and the most wholesome interspecies friendship in sci-fi history. Expect some intense "peril" and potentially some salty language (if it follows the book), but overall, it’s a massive win for intentional media consumption.
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Screenwise Parents
See allIf you’ve spent any time in a middle school hallway lately, you know the vibe is currently a chaotic mix of "Skibidi" memes and kids calling everything "Ohio." It can feel like our kids' brains are being slowly marinated in "brain rot" content. Then, every once in a while, a piece of media comes along that actually treats kids like they have a functioning prefrontal cortex.
Enter Project Hail Mary, hitting theaters March 20th.
Based on the juggernaut novel by Andy Weir (who also wrote The Martian), this isn't your typical "aliens blow up the White House" space flick. It’s a movie where the hero saves the world using the Pythagorean theorem, a makeshift spectrometer, and a whole lot of duct tape.
The story follows Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), a middle-school science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He soon realizes he’s millions of miles from home, his crewmates are dead, and he’s the only person left who can stop an extinction-level event threatening Earth.
But he’s not alone for long. He encounters an alien ship—and an alien named Rocky—who is in the exact same predicament.
What follows is a "first contact" story that is actually about two scientists from different worlds trying to communicate through music and math to solve a shared problem. It’s essentially the ultimate "group project," but with the fate of two civilizations on the line and significantly less "one person doing all the work" drama than your kid deals with in 7th-grade history.
We talk a lot at Screenwise about "WISE" scores—our metric for media that is Worthy, Inspiring, Safe, and Educational. Project Hail Mary is tracking to be a WISE score heavyweight for a few reasons:
1. The "Competence Porn" Factor
In a digital world where kids are often rewarded for "reactions" and "clout," this story rewards competence. Ryland Grace isn't a superhero; he’s a guy who knows how to do math. Watching a character fail, iterate, and eventually succeed through the scientific method is a fantastic counter-narrative to the "instant gratification" loops found in TikTok or Roblox.
2. A Non-Scary Alien
If your kid is sensitive to "monster" tropes, you’ll love Rocky. Without spoiling the visual design (which the trailers have been teasingly vague about), Rocky is a character built on curiosity and engineering. The friendship between Ryland and Rocky is built on mutual respect and shared goals, providing a great opening to talk about diversity and inclusion in a way that feels organic to the plot.
3. The "Andy Weir" Effect
If your family loved The Martian, you know what you’re getting here: "Hard" sci-fi that doesn't cheat. The physics are real. The biology is plausible. It’s the kind of movie that makes kids want to go home and look up how gravity works on a rotating centrifuge.
While we won't have the final MPAA rating until closer to the March 20th release, we can make some very educated guesses based on the source material and the directors' previous work.
Target Age: 10+ (with some caveats for 8-9 year olds)
- Language: The book features a fair amount of "science-teacher-trying-not-to-swear" (e.g., "fudge," "heck"), but also some actual profanity. Given this is a major blockbuster, expect a PG-13 rating with some moderate language.
- Intensity: There are scenes of medical distress, amnesia-induced panic, and the "peril" of being in a tin can in deep space. Ryland also has to deal with the corpses of his crewmates early on, which might be a bit much for the under-8 crowd.
- Complexity: The plot involves time dilation, relativity, and some complex chemistry. Younger kids might get a little lost in the "how," but they'll likely stay for the "who"—the relationship between the human and the alien is the heart of the film.
Check out our guide on managing movie theater sensory issues
If your kid sees the trailer and is immediately "all in," don't just wait for the movie. Use this as a bridge to other high-quality media that isn't just mindless scrolling.
If they love the science:
- Kerbal Space Program: This is the gold standard for space games. It’s literally rocket science, but fun. Your kid will learn more about orbital mechanics in three hours of KSP than in a month of school.
- NASA Selfies: A fun, simple app to put themselves in space contexts.
- Science Friday: A great podcast to listen to in the car to keep the "how does this work?" energy going.
If they love the "survival" aspect:
- Terraria: While it has combat, the core loop is about using what you find to build what you need—very much in the spirit of Ryland Grace.
- The Wild Robot by Peter Brown: If you have younger siblings (ages 6-9) who want to get in on the "survival and friendship" theme, this is the perfect companion read.
If they want more "Smart Sci-Fi":
- Interstellar: For older teens (13+), this covers similar themes of space travel and time dilation.
- Hidden Figures: A great reminder that the "math" part of space travel has a very human (and often overlooked) history.
Without giving away the ending, Project Hail Mary deals heavily with the idea of the "greater good." Ryland Grace isn't a traditional hero who wants to go on a mission; he’s essentially forced into it. This creates a really interesting conversation for the ride home: "What would you be willing to give up to save people you’ve never met?"
It’s a refreshing change from the "main character syndrome" prevalent in a lot of kid-focused media today.
Project Hail Mary is looking like a "must-see." It’s rare to find a movie that is this big, this expensive, and this unapologetically smart.
If you have a kid who is "bored" by school but loves figuring out how things work, this is your Super Bowl. Buy the tickets, get the large popcorn, and prepare for a week of questions about how to make a fuel source out of space-microbes.
Next Steps:
- Read the book first? If your kid is an avid reader, the Project Hail Mary book is a page-turner. If they prefer audio, the Audible version is legendary because of how they handle the alien's "musical" voice.
- Check the Screenwise Community: Pop into our survey to see what percentage of parents in your school district are planning to take their middle-schoolers to see this on opening weekend.
- Plan a "Science Night": Use the movie as an excuse to do some basic home science experiments that mirror Ryland’s challenges.