Project Hail Marythe latest sci-fi spectacle starring Ryan Gosling has become a top hit in Hollywood. Yet it has sparked a lively debate.
Based on hard science fiction – the genre known to demonstrate scientific accuracy – the film fell short in a number of areas, according to experts.
For example, Project Hail Mary shows a space microbe drawing energy from the sun, which in turn sends the Earth into an ice age.
However, Jillian Bellovary, a scientist, called it a complete fantasy.
“Nothing can siphon the light from the sun,” she says New York Times. “It’s a nice idea, okay, but that’s nothing.”
In contrast, the report notes that space scientists – apart from some criticism – were also impressed by the film, which is based on the novel by Andy Weir.
Take, for example, the details of the deathly silence of space and the physics behind the spacewalk.
Astrophysicists, according to the NYTwere also impressed by even the wildest ideas Project Hail Mary tried to show.
Although the report adds that it is factually incorrect, at the same time it is not entirely unfounded.
Referring to what the film shows about the use of light for propulsion and about the crystallization of gases is said to have little interest in science.
Furthermore, the expert praises the film for showing how scientists learn from their mistakes and work together to put things right.
“Getting things wrong is very important in science, and that’s not something that people who aren’t scientists really know,” Bellovary says.
Charlotte Olsen, another astrophysicist, adds: “It shows the people behind the science. It shows that scientists make mistakes and have emotions, and there are different things that drive them.”
Project Hail Mary is playing in theaters.
