The story of Project Hail Mary is largely successful because of how relatable and likable the hero, Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling), is. Both the 2021 Andy Weir novel and the new film from directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord weaponize the underdog charm of Dr. Grace to ensure that the planet-saving high stakes of the film are felt in the heart as well as the head. While Project Hail Mary is considered a work of “hard” science fiction, its success lives and dies on its humanistic themes and our love of Ryland Grace as a selfless hero. And yet, a late-in-the-game revelation casts Grace in a different light, and outside of any space alien antics, one twist defines the ending of Project Hail Mary more than anything else.
Here’s what happens at the very end of Project Hail Mary: how a twist just before that ending totally changes everything, and why author Andy Weir says that this plot point was baked into the story from day one.
