Project Hail Mary is one of the film industry’s recent critical and box office successes. The movie stars Ryan Gosling and Sandra Huller, and it is based on the 2021 hard science fiction novel by Andy Weir. The captivating and heartwarming story chronicles Middle-school science teacher Ryland Grace (Gosling) as the sole-survivor on a ship that is many light-years from Earth. It is up to Grace to remember his mission and save Earth from a curious lifeform that threatens to cool the Sun and deplete the stars of innumerable solar systems. The themes of bravery, sacrifice, home, and friendship are at the heart of this story as Grace encounters an alien being along the way that he calls Rocky, and the two must work together to save their respective worlds.
Many viewers will enjoy the story or appreciate the themes of the movie. Even moviegoers who may not be too interested in the scientific details of the film will be invested in the high stakes plot and the comedic interactions between Grace and Rocky as they learn to communicate with each other. Believers will also be surprised to discover a positive discussion about belief in God in the box office hit. Thus, Christians will do well to pay attention to this successful film and how general audiences are responding to it.
The warfare narrative of faith and science is not the exclusive or sole view of the science-faith relationship in popular culture.
God’s Will Amidst Scientific Uncertainties
During a scene in the middle of the movie, Grace speaks with the mission director, Eva Stratt (Huller). He discusses the uncertainties of the mission and his surprise that astronauts would volunteer to go on a voyage through space to save the world even though the astronauts will not be able to return from the mission. Grace asks Stratt if she thinks they will be able to pull off the mission and save the world. “God willing,” she replies. Grace follows up by asking Stratt if she believes in God. She simply responds that “it is better than the alternative.” While this scene is brief, the inclusion of a conversation about belief in God in such a big budget film from MGM studios and Amazon should be enough to grab the believer’s attention in the theater.
With the odds stacked against her, Stratt organizes the mission to save her world. She plans to send astronauts on a one-way trip without any possibility of returning home. She and her team at NASA are not even certain that the astronauts will survive the voyage or find the answer to save their suns from cooling down. To top off these concerns, if the mission is a failure, everyone on Earth will eventually die. Yet, the movie decides to highlight Stratt’s faith in God amidst all these uncertainties and difficulties. She does not know how things will turn out. She ultimately does not put her confidence in blind chance or her team’s thorough preparation for the mission. Her response to Grace indicates that she finds some comfort in God’s will over this daring mission. The film can serve as a reminder to Christians that God is in control of even the most frightening and overwhelming circumstances.
The Preferability of Belief in God
Beyond her belief in God’s will, Stratt adds that it is preferable to believe in God over “the alternative.” For Stratt, belief that there is no God will not provide any assurance or comfort as she accomplishes her mission. Some atheists and skeptics think it is better not to believe in God due to moral or scientific arguments they have developed against theistic belief. However, the writers behind Project Hail Mary included Stratt’s comments in the story to show viewers the daunting idea of a world that is not governed and directed by God. Christian viewers will also find it encouraging that Grace does not dismiss or disparage Stratt’s belief in God. The writers of the movie do not paint her faith in any kind of bad light. They instead choose to depict Stratt’s faith as a reassuring perspective on the distressing events of the story.
Many Christians today may think that the film industry is completely against God and those who believe in him. Many films today disparage belief in God. We may also be tempted to think that culture is totally antagonistic to such belief, but Project Hail Mary shows us that is not always the case. In fact, this movie joins another recent science fiction film, Fly Me to the Moon (Apple Studios, 2024), in depicting the value of belief in God for scientific pursuits. As the title of an apologetics book from Alister McGrath has indicated, belief in God simply “won’t go away.”[1] Humans are worshipping beings by nature, so references to God will inevitably turn up in culture.
Christians should find these discussions on God and science in film intriguing. While these movies do not include explicit references to the Christian gospel, such films can serve as good cultural starting points for the compatibility of faith with scientific accomplishments. If you plan on watching Project Hail Mary with an unbelieving friend, try to have an apologetic conversation with them and point out that the warfare narrative of faith and science is not the exclusive or sole view of the science-faith relationship in popular culture. If you know of any fellow believers that have also seen the movie, you can remind them that faith and science are not opposed to one another, and that belief in God is actually good for scientific inquiry.
No comments have been added.