The Ending of 'Project Hail Mary' Explained

Perhaps the biggest movie of the year has been the spectacular Andy Weir adaptation. Project Hail Mary, which created a thrilling and heartfelt scenario about trying to save not only our world but life across the galaxy as we know it.

I loved the movie so much, and now that it's streaming on Amazon, I find myself just turning it on to bask in the exciting story and the emotional, if not a little heartbreaking, ending.

Today, I want to go over the finale and talk about how Any Wier, along with directors Lord and Miller, as well as Drew Goddard, were able to bring the book to life and get it onto the big screen.

Let's dive in.

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The Plot of Project Hail Mary

The film (and book) follows Ryland Grace, a middle-school science teacher who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he’s there...only to find the rest of his crew has tragically passed away and he's completely alone out here.

Now light-years away from Earth, he learns his mission is to stop particles that are eating stars, thereby destroying our sun.

We get flashbacks showing Grace's life on Earth as he slowly regains his memory of who he was and how he got there.

At the same time, he's trying to solve the problems of the Astrophage, which is eating stars. But luckily, he has help. An astrological neighbor from the Tau Ceti system is there to study the same thing.

They make first contact and develop a way to talk to one another. The alien engineer is named Rocky, and he belongs to a species called the Eridians. Grace and Rocky become fast friends, as Rocky's crew died on the journey as well.

The story shifts to being about their friendship and the bond of two guys who understand that the reason to save both their planets is that there are people they care about there, even if those people and places are not perfect.

What Happens at the End of Project Hail Mary?

After a grueling sequence of experiments, failures, and near-death experiences, Grace and Rocky succeed in formulating a plan to stop the astrophage that is infecting their suns.

They develop a way to breed "Taumoeba," which is a predator for the Astrophage that can restore their suns and save the lives of everyone they care about in the galaxy.

The two hug it out and part ways, only for Grace to wake up from hibernation to a huge issue. The Taumoeba can now slip through xenonite thanks to evolving and is eating the fuel to get home.

Grace can contain it, but Rocky's ship won't be able to do so without his help. To make matters worse, Rocky will die in space because of it, and so will everyone on his home planet.

That means Grace has to make the ultimate choice. He sends the Taumoeba he has back to earth, and instead of following it, he follows Rocky's ship to save him.

The probes successfully reach Earth and allow humanity to use the Taumoeba to save the Sun.

Meanwhile, Grace makes it to Rocky's ship and saves him, helping him get back to his planet, where Grace now calls home.

In our final sequence, Rocky tells him that the Hail Mary has been refueled and is ready to take him back to Earth. Grace hesitates.

He's finally remembered that he was forced to be a hero for the people of Earth when they had an accident that killed the other scientists on his team, and he was drugged and sent there. Even though he found his inner hero, he's not quite ready to go back.

Grace then heads to school, where he's back teaching kids, well, young Eridians, science lessons.

He has chosen a life of quiet service among the stars.

And the decision of whether or not to go back to Eatht is up to him, whenever he wants to take it.

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Why the Ending Resonates

I love movies about people who are competent, and it's kind of the ultimate expression of that, and it's what Andy Weir does so well in all his books, like The Martin and Artemis.

But what stood out to me about Gosling's character in this movie is that while he's competent, he's also a guy who wasn't stepping up to be a hero or even an astronaut. You kind of had to encourage him every step of the way, and in the end, make him.

That character arc is fascinating, because there's this act of awfulness making him sort of promise ot die for us by sending him out there.

But on the other hand, Grace spent his life running away from responsibility. By the end, he embraces it completely and would never have gotten there without that dramatic push.

There's a real ethical conundrum in here that makes the movie wholly interesting.

And it explains why he might not be ready to go home quite yet.

Summing It All Up

Project Hail Mary reminds us that while we might look to the stars for answers, the solution to our problems is almost always found in collaboration, especially when you're talking about working on a movie or a TV show.

The ending is bittersweet, but it feels earned, and it shows that a complicated story with an oral gay center and lots of reveals can attract a big audience who wants to think and to feel.

What did you think of Grace’s choice? Would you have stayed, or would you have fought to get back to Earth?

Let me know in the comments.