- Directed by: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
- Written by: Drew Goddard
- Stars: Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, Milana Vayntrub
- Run Time: 2 Hours, 36 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0XN3-n-2Lo
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A solitary astronaut wakes up from a hibernation sleep on a starship with huge gaps in his memory, and slowly discovers he is on a desperate mission to save Earth from a solar-system-killing threat. After waiting years for this adaptation of Andy Weir’s hit novel, we weren’t sure if the movie could pull off the book’s almost-excessive science and central alien friendship– but they did. We both loved it. It takes a few visual liberties with the math and science (it’s a movie, not the book), but it’s a fun ride. The special effects are amazing, and it’s just plain fun. The long run time flew by, and we were both entertained.
Spoilery Synopsis
“I’m allergic to peanuts,” is pretty much the first functional thought Ryland Grace has as he wakes up in a sterile chamber attached to tubes. Two of his crewmates are dead in their pods beside him, reduced to mummies. He doesn’t even remember his own name, let alone why he’s in deep space.
As his memory slowly trickles back through flashbacks, he remembers that he was a middle school science teacher recruited by Eva Stratt—the head of a global task force. She explained to him that a microscopic organism named “Astrophage” is eating the Sun’s energy, threatening a global extinction-level ice age. In fact, all the nearby stars seem to be fading. Except for one. Why?
The star Tau Ceti is the only one reasonably close that seems to be immune to the infection, so humanity built the Hail Mary, a probably-suicide-mission starship powered by Astrophage fuel, to travel there and find out why. Naturally, Ryland had a big part in the design of the engine they use; actually, he learns that he’s the world’s biggest expert on the Astrophage, so he’s indispensable to the mission.
While orbiting Tau Ceti, Ryland makes a shocking discovery: another ship is in the system. He makes contact with an alien vessel operated by a five-legged, spider-like creature made of heavy stone who communicates entirely through musical chords. Ryland names him “Rocky.” Rocky’s home sun is also dying from Astrophage, and he is also the sole survivor of his own crew.
The two science nerds form an instant bond. They build a pressurized airlock tunnel between their ships so they can work together. Ryland learns Rocky’s musical language using a laptop program, and together they start running experiments on Tau Ceti’s atmosphere. They discover a natural predator to Astrophage: a microbe they name “Taumoeba.” However, breeding Taumoeba in lab conditions presents a huge problem—the microbe dies when exposed to tiny traces of methane.
Through dangerous trial and error, Ryland selectively breeds a line of Taumoeba that can survive methane exposure. With enough Taumoeba bred to save both Earth and Rocky’s home planet of Erid, they stock their respective ships and part ways. Ryland sets course back to Earth, sending unmanned probes ahead to carry the data and samples, ready to probably starve to death on the journey home. Shortly after departing, Ryland realizes a fatal flaw: the methane-resistant Taumoeba he bred has adapted to eat through Xenonite, the material Rocky’s ship is made of.
Rocky’s fuel tanks are going to be destroyed, leaving him stranded to die in space. Ryland makes the ultimate choice: He redirects his ship, sacrificing his last chance to return to Earth, and saves Rocky just as his ship breaks down. He hopes the probes containing samples that he sent to Earth arrive safely.
Much later, Ryland is living on Rocky’s home world among the Eridians. He receives news via long-range light signals that Earth’s Sun has recovered, meaning his probes made it home. He spends his days happily doing what he loves most: teaching a classroom full of little alien kids. Rocky tells him that they fixed his ship up and he could return to Earth any time he wants to. But maybe he’ll stick around there for a while yet.
Brian’s Commentary
I’m skeptical that anyone could learn a complex alien language based entirely on musical pitches using a basic Excel spreadsheet. I had high expectations coming into this one after loving the book, and it really delivered. Actually, I thought there was a little too much science in the book, and it dragged at times; the movie fixes that problem. Gosling carries the solo screen time effortlessly, and the CGI for Rocky makes a giant rock-spider surprisingly adorable. The many flashbacks as he recovers his memory is straight from the book and well done.
It’s every bit as good as you’ve heard.
Kevin’s Commentary
The science holds up surprisingly well for a blockbuster, though there were points here and there that kind of work because the plot requires it. Such as the speeds they travel at.
But overall it’s a movie that’s hard to nitpick. It’s a big story, and I really liked how we gradually figure out what’s going on along with Ryland as some of his memories return, and we see lots of flashbacks revealing how he got there. And what the problem is that he has to solve.
In some ways it reminded me of “The Martian,” not surprising since it’s by the same author, but this one has a buddy factor that livens things up. And Ryan Gosling was the perfect choice for the role.
Sometimes, highly hyped movies don’t live up to it, but this one really does. It’s entertaining from the beginning to the end. A great ending by the way. For such a long run time, I was never bored.
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