After living with Ryland Grace and Rocky in my head for so long, we finally headed to the theater on March 21st to see Project Hail Mary.

It’s rare that the whole family—wife, daughter, and son—is equally invested in a sci-fi adaptation, but Andy Weir’s story has that effect. There’s something about the “competence porn” of a scientist solving life-or-death problems with basic physics that translates so well to film.

A few spoiler-free thoughts:

The Visuals: Seeing the Hail Mary and the specific geometry of the Blip-A in high definition was exactly how I pictured it while reading.

The Dynamics: They captured the isolation of the early scenes perfectly before the “first contact” shifts the tone.

Family Verdict: It’s a win. Even with my daughter’s sensory preferences, the theater experience was a hit—the sound design for Rocky’s “speech” was incredible.

It’s the best kind of “hard” sci-fi: optimistic, nerdy, and deeply human. Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!

I need to go back and read Artemis to complete the trifecta,