‘Project Hail Mary’ Shows What Real Heroism Looks Like

Project Hail Mary, a new science fiction film starring Ryan Gosling and based on the eponymous book by Andy Weir, posits an utterly absurd, fantastical notion: What if global human society were, on the whole, rational and moral?

The title refers to a ship built, as the name might suggest, as a crazy last-ditch attempt to save the world. Despite the clichéd premise, it is set up with such care, attention to detail, and painful moral relevance to current events that it succeeds brilliantly.