Project Hail Mary Through the Emotional and Spiritual Lens of a Christian Fantasy Author

An Author’s Intro with Three Disclaimers

I have always learned best through story.

Whether that be morals and values, emotional, spiritual, and even Biblical lessons, I find that following characters and connecting with their personal struggles and triumphs links me to whatever they are trying to teach me in such an intimate way that really sticks with me when done well. Project Hail Mary has certainly accomplished this for me.

(Is it any wonder that I became an author to tell such stories myself?)

Now, I want to start this exploration of the themes of Project Hail Mary and how they inspired me with three disclaimers:

1. I am only talking about the film. I have not read the book. I actually came to the film through my husband, who HAS read the book more than once and loves it. Likewise, I love the movie, enough to have seen it five times thus far in theaters (with a sixth and possibly seventh trip planned), something I have NEVER done before with any other film (I have definitely had films I watch at home on repeat, but it has been years since I was inspired by a film enough to do so).

2. The spiritual and emotional applications I will be discussing are purely my own thoughts or those that I have discussed with friends. I am well aware that the author probably didn't intend for most, if any, of these applications to be drawn, that Andy Weir did not likely consciously write them into his book. But that is the beauty of story. It comes from the spirit of one person to another, and our spirits can find all sorts of meanings in those stories and how they personally touch each of us. For me, I would say I was led by God to experience this story to draw some of the following beautiful conclusions and be able to share them with others.

3. If you haven’t watched the movie or read the film, you may wish to save this post for later! Spoilers will be impossible to avoid for the sake of this exploration.

Having now seen the film five times in theaters (due to my love for it, yes, but also my desire to share it with as many different groups of people as possible), I would like to start by sharing my initial thoughts during my first watch-through.

First Watch Thoughts

I am the type of viewer/reader/video gamer who gets VERY into things. I take on the emotions of the other characters, I feel deeply and cry and scream at the TV. Even if I have seen a thing before and, for example, know a certain character doesn’t really die, if the scene is effectively moving, I will cry as much every time I view it, if not moreso. Just because I know that character makes it out alive, THEY don’t know, nor do the other characters, and I find myself empathizing and feeling those emotions along with them. I will also cry simply if something is very beautiful or wholesome. My emotional overwhelm can come from any source, joy or sorrow, anger or fear, positive or negative.

All this is to say that my getting lost DEEPLY emotionally and spiritually in my first watch of Project Hail Mary is something of an understatement. I remember early on in Rocky and Grace’s friendship that my imagination was overcome by this train of thought: “What if God really did create aliens like Rocky and they were real? If that was true, He would have made them to help us learn about ourselves, just like Rocky teaches Grace about himself and helps him to grow. Just like animals teach us so much, or the people God places in our lives.” It was a really beautiful, pure thought that moved me throughout the film, this idea of God creating people and creatures and placing them in our lives at just the right time, often when we least expect it.

A friend and I even went so far as to have a discussion about whether Rocky and his people would have had original sin, and we both quickly concluded “no.” That if Rocky and the Eridians were real, they would have been innocent beings unbeholden to sin. Not celestial enough to be angelic beings, I think, but similar to animals, if having much greater intelligence and capabilities.

On that note, I wouldn’t go so far to say that Grace going to Erid at the end is akin to his going to Heaven. But in a way, it’s a sort of picture of that, because I think Grace is reborn through his willingness to sacrifice himself. He grows into something new and gets to experience a new, beautiful life among the Eridians as a reward. So, there is at least a message of restoration and abundance.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Relating Grace to the Three J’s: Joseph, Jonah, and Job

Another thought that really overwhelmed my heart, mind, and soul throughout the film on that first watch-through was how God worked all things, even the bad, for Grace’s good. No part of Grace wanted to go on that mission. Like Jonah in the Bible, Grace resisted his calling; he was the best person for the job, the one who could save the entire Earth, but he didn’t want to go, not even to save his students. I don’t judge him for this. Rather, I think it is both profound and relatable that Grace did NOT want to give up his life. I can’t say with any certainty that I would have chosen differently. None of us can. Many of us would have likely resisted such a terrifying calling.

But I kept telling myself that even though Grace didn’t want to go, he HAD to. God knew he had to, because God knew that not only was Grace needed to save Earth, but also, without Grace, Rocky and all the Eridians would die too. Grace was essential in saving two entire races. Grace is still a hero, even though no part of him wanted to go at first. He becomes a worthy hero by the end, both in finding that person he is willing to give up his life for (bringing extra meaning to the phrase  “life is reason”) and in finally embracing the fullness of his mission.

I would also say that Grace was just as much at fault for refusing the mission as Eva Stratt was for forcing him to go (though again, it’s hard to judge her, considering her difficult decision).

But God, in the end, uses even our tough and often wrong choices all for the ultimate good.

The story of Joseph in the Bible is one of my favorites, in which his brothers are overcome with jealousy and hatred and sell him into slavery. Joseph endures many trials in Egypt, including unjust imprisonment for a crime he didn’t commit, but this path leads him to ultimately meet the right people and rise to a position of high power. Becoming second only to the Pharoah, Joseph uses his position to save many lives during a seven-year famine—including the very brothers who betrayed him and sold him into slavery. While Joseph is initially angry with them, he ultimately chooses forgiveness, their relationship is restored, and Joseph says the quote which echoed in my spirit throughout watching Project Hail Mary: “You intended it for evil, but God intended it for good.” Throughout the film, I was overwhelmed by the idea of God’s mercy, grace, and healing, thinking about how He can take circumstances we don’t want to be in and use them to create something good and beautiful.

Even the name of the movie itself reflects this truth. I know it’s named after the football term for a long shot; but I think in this case, the author must have taken some inspiration from the Catholic prayer as well: “Hail, Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.” Not only is Grace obviously the only one inside the Hail Mary ship, but I think I can solidly say, at least from the perspective of my own watch, that the Lord was with him. Again, he didn’t want to go, but he had to, because there was a purpose so much bigger than him.

But also, a bigger reward than he could have ever imagined!

Which brings me to one of the most recent connections I made to the story of Job in the Bible.

Job loses literally everything in his life: his home is destroyed, his wealth gone, his children killed, his wife abandons him, and his even is health takes a dive. His friends ask him what sins he has committed to be punished so, not showing him any support or love in the least. Through it all, Job remains faithful to God, even though he can’t understand why all of this is happening to him. And in the end, Job is blessed above and beyond with more than he could have imagined: a new family, new children, new home, restored wealth and health.

In Project Hail Mary, Grace is seen to be a very lonely man. Yes, he loves his students, but again, he is not willing to sacrifice his life and go to space even for them. In the karaoke scene, he sits at the bar by himself. He shows preferences for liking to work by himself. And he makes the comment when getting to know Rocky that he “likes to keep a wall up in his relationships.”

Sometimes, we don’t even realize how lonely we are until we are blessed with the opposite. He clearly comes to care deeply for Rocky; Rocky is willing to sacrifice so much for Grace, down to his very life, and Grace in turn is willing to sacrifice his life for Rocky, exemplifying this verse: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15: 13) And through it all, not only does he gain a best friend with a very genuine connection in Rocky but an entire new community and classroom.

I have to be completely honest in saying that I did NOT expect the movie to end in such triumph as it did! I was fully expecting someone to not make it out alive. And the story could have certainly been just as wholesome even with a character death, but a quite different rush of overwhelming emotions overcame me as it ended instead on such a joyous high, exactly as I would have wanted it to! In fact, I am so overwhelmed with joyous tears and smiles at the end of each watch that I always feel immediately ready to jump into watching it all over again.

Finding Grace in Grace’s Story

Which furthers my view of Grace’s story being akin to Job’s. The thing is, even though Grace got fired from his previous job before becoming a teacher, I truly think he enjoyed being a middle school teacher. I think he found peace and contentment there.

So, I think there is more than just a story of forgiveness and redemption for Grace. Yes, God sends him on a mission he doesn't want to be on to save two planets, and honestly, I think his life being spared and getting to know Rocky would have been more than enough reward for him.

But then the story takes things a step further, to show God's abundance, because Grace also gets to live on this amazing planet, and his love for teaching is restored as he takes up the new classroom on Erid. This beautiful climax of overflowing grace and reward is emotionally overwhelming for me in every good way. And it makes Grace akin to Job in the sense that Job goes through the WORST experiences, losing everything down to nearly losing his very life, but God has a plan to turn it all for good, and the restoration is above and beyond what Job could have dreamed for himself.

And Grace, in turn, imparts that grace to another. I mentioned earlier that both Grace and Stratt were in the wrong in their decisions, though again, I pass judgment on neither, as both had to make exceptionally difficult choices that none of us would likely make well ourselves. But God shows grace to Grace, and Grace in turn seems to forgive Stratt and hold no ill will toward her. Even when he has resolved to go back to save Rocky, thereby sacrificing his own life (at that time, he has no way of knowing he will be able to safely live on Erid), he seems at true peace with everything. In the videos he sends back to Stratt, he even acknowledges that she was right all along, that he was the right person to go on this mission and all has turned out as it was meant to.

Final Inspirations: Life is Reason

I can say with great certainty that, as a millennial, it has been likely at least ten years at least since I had a story that left such an impact on me that I made it my entire identity like I did with the likes of Harry Potter, Pokémon, Twilight, and such, but Project Hail Mary has managed to create something timeless and touching enough to pull this off for me.

Even if you don’t identify with any of the spiritual applications I’ve made here and even if you don’t like the film, I would argue that it’s an objectively well-made film with a little something that almost anyone can enjoy and take away.

The purity of Rocky's heart and the purity of his and Grace's friendship alone is worth the entire film. In my day job, I work with adults who have autism and other disabilities. I took a young couple to the theater for their date to watch the movie (my second watch through), and the one thing the young lady said about the movie afterward was how she really liked the friendship between Grace and Rocky, and I thought, “yup, if that's all you got from this film, I think that's enough.” The film makers really knew what they were doing. My husband tells me there’s a lot more science in the book. But at its heart, this story is so much more than a science fiction adventure, and the film makers were wise to put just enough science in to tell the story while placing that greater focus on the relationships and character growth, making it a story that is much more universally accessible, understandable, and enjoyable.

That about sums up my thoughts on my emotional and spiritual journey with Project Hail Mary. I’m sure more thoughts will inspire me in the days to come, perhaps even enough for a second post. There are many other obvious reasons this film is phenomenal: the emotion Ryan Gosling brings to his character, the emotion and realness the creators brought to Rocky, making Rocky an actual puppet to help us believe his and Grace’s bond, the real sets and every other tangible aspect that immerses the viewer so deeply inside the story, Daniel Pemberton’s absolutely immersive score that echoes every emotional beat so perfectly and adds to the profound depth. It’s overall a simple story, but it contains so much meaning and is crafted with such obvious heart.

The final take-away I have as Christian is that no matter where we are, God is always there. Even all the way out in space, light years away from Earth, God would be able to find me or you and protect us and have some “amaze, amaze, amazing” plan for us beyond our ability to imagine, right down to sending a rock alien to watch over us.

The final take-away I have as an author is this: whether you’re an author, artist, musician, or other creative being, it really can be quality over quantity. Some authors pump out multiple books a year and they make big bucks doing so. I feel I have the ability to do the same, but that’s never been my desire. As Rocky says, “Life is reason,” and I feel like this should be the driving force for all that we do and create. Does our writing, music, or other work encourage, uplift, heal, or otherwise enhance life in some way, whether in a physical, spiritual, or emotional sense?

Experiencing a story like Grace and Rocky’s has encouraged me to know that I don’t need to write loads of books to find my own kind of success. I just need to write a profound few that touch people’s hearts and souls as intimately as Project Hail Mary has touched mine.