‘Project Hail Mary’ Didn’t Need the Scene With Grace Teaching the Eridians

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Be warned, this discussion contains spoilers for Project Hail Mary. While nearly every part of Project Hail Mary is excellent and serves a purpose, there’s one scene that feels unnecessary. It doesn’t really affect the overall story, but it holds the movie back from being truly perfect. It’s not a major problem, but removing the scene would likely make the film even better.

At just over two and a half hours, the movie Project Hail Mary has a typical length for today’s films. However, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller recently shared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that their first version was nearly four hours long! They showed it to audiences several times, hoping to keep the longer runtime, but were repeatedly told to cut it down – and it was likely a good decision. Still, given how much footage ended up being removed, I’m surprised a specific scene wasn’t also cut.

‘Project Hail Mary’ Really Didn’t Need To Show Dr. Ryland Grace Teaching the Young Eridians

The ending of Project Hail Mary is deeply touching. Instead of returning to Earth, Dr. Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, uses his remaining fuel to go back and rescue Rocky. As a thank you, Rocky and his people create a comfortable, Earth-like place for Grace to live while his ship is fixed and refueled. Since Grace doesn’t have strong ties waiting for him back home, the movie implies he’ll stay with Rocky for a long time, possibly forever, and it’s heartwarming to imagine what his new life will be like.

Now that his ship was nearly fixed, Grace was offered a chance to leave, but he asked Rocky for some time to consider it. Rocky, ever cheerful, happily told him there was no hurry. Honestly, I thought the movie would end with a shot of them both looking out at the ocean – a perfect, open-ended conclusion that would have left Grace’s future up to the audience. What we actually got was…okay. He’s back to being a teacher, this time teaching Eridians, and that felt unnecessary.

Why Grace Ending ‘Project Hail Mary’ as a Teacher Again Is So Unsatisfying

The movie Project Hail Mary attempts a circular narrative, suggesting Grace ultimately finds fulfillment in the very profession he initially fell into by chance. While I understand the intention, it doesn’t quite land for me. Grace became a teacher only after being ostracized from the scientific community for his unorthodox ideas – it was a necessity, not a passion. He approached teaching with dedication, but it’s clear his true calling lies elsewhere. The entire film centers around his search for purpose, making the idea that his purpose is simply ‘to teach’ feel overly simplistic. It honestly never occurred to me that teaching could be Grace’s vocation until the movie seemed to hint at it towards the end.

It’s understandable that the Erdians needed to learn about things like radiation, but does it make sense for Grace to directly teach the youngest Erdians? I don’t think so. It would be more logical for him to share that knowledge with the Erdians who are older and better equipped to use it immediately. Perhaps he did, but if so, it’s unclear why Gosling’s character needed to be the one explaining things to the younger generation. Honestly, we didn’t even need to see that happen. It could have easily occurred after the book ended, with Grace and Rocky watching the ocean.

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2026-04-05 02:02