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The film is told nonlinearly, jumping from the present to the past as Grace starts to remember his life on Earth and the timeline of events that would result in him being aboard the Project Hail Mary. It’s a great tool for this particular story as the audience learns more about Grace and starts to grasp the answer to the question posed by the film: ‘why is a schoolteacher in space?’ But the story structure also builds on the emotional narrative of the film and why even an ADD wired mind can stay hooked for nearly three hours: Project Hail Mary is a film about loneliness.

Project Hail Mary is able to pull off this interesting trick where the more people there are in a scene, the lonelier the scene feels. Compared to the present day spaceship with only one or two characters, the Earth scenes are usually bustling with people. A classroom, a government-led lab, a ship full of the smartest minds in the world; and yet, Grace always seems to be more isolated in these scenes than in space.

The classroom introduces this concept slowly, since Grace is fully in his element and engaging with his students. However with the recent discovery of the Petrova Line and the sun-eating lifeform that threatens life on Earth, Grace is suddenly isolated. Unwilling to tell these children about the decades-away threat, Grace can’t connect to his students like before, and telling them only builds the gap between them. When Grace is taken by the government to study this new lifeform, he’s literally separated from all the people via a huge lab and window that requires a microphone to communicate. Although Grace tries anyway to connect to the group beyond the window in a similar joking way he would with his students, the response is lukewarm. Even when it seems that Grace finds an answer everyone is looking for, there is only a polite clap.

When Grace is taken again to the middle of the ocean, a similar response is seen within the body of the world’s intellectual elite. Grace explains the reproduction of the sun-eating lifeform, astrophage, like a science fair project. Grace threw some ideas at the wall and built an environment out of materials he got from Home Depot, and even though it was the breakthrough of the project at the time, the group sits there in unamused silence. It’s only when another group was able to reproduce Grace’s results that he’s invited into the group, and officially joined Project Hail Mary.

All of these scenes are contrasted with the scenes aboard the ship. Grace acts similarly to how he does on earth, but takes amusement in his own attitude and bounces off himself. The tone brightens after meeting our secondary character, Rocky, an alien from the planet Erid on the same mission to save their respective planets from astrophage lifeforms.

Rocky is truly the antithesis of all the discomfort on Earth, and a lot of that stems from being an alien. Grace and Rocky slowly connect through translated language and cultural differences their species experience. As a result, Grace is received with a lot more warmth in space than he ever did on Earth.

On Earth, scientists have this cold accuracy expected of them. This archetype is why Grace’s jokes in both the lab and in the introductory meeting in the middle of the ocean are not really well received. Language is expected to be exact and to the point, but Grace’s more clumsy but well-rounded explanation style tends to be off-putting to the environment he’s in. However, Rocky has no such preconception of how a human scientist is supposed to be. Rocky hasn’t even interacted with humans before, so everything is a new experience in learning about humans. Rocky isn’t even a molecular biologist like Grace, but an engineer.

As seen in the classroom scene, the gap in knowledge between Grace and his students only isolated Grace from them. However, while the different fields of science Grace and Rocky work in would seemingly separate the two, it actually brings them closer together. Both are quick to share their knowledge and advancements in their own respective fields in their project to save the stars. Additionally, the difference in their species and the ability to perceive different parts of reality bring them even further together. Rocky’s xenon synthesizing ability creates material for the pair to use, but his lack of traditional sight doesn’t give him a lot of room to understand astrophage. Grace is able to view and manipulate the astrophage to study its properties, but is limited to his own technological limitations. The two of them work together with Rocky creating the technology to collect, separate and breed astrophage’s predator, and Grace studying the properties to actually implement their ideas.

However, these traits were not necessarily useful on Earth. When talking about their respective relationships, Grace reveals that he once had a mate, but she said his head was “stuck in the clouds” which Grace agrees with, and it ultimately ended their relationship. Grace’s more carefree and goofy attitude that separated him from most of the scientists on the project actually helps him bond more easily with Rocky.

Similar to Grace’s experiment that resulted in the reproduction of astrophage, Grace’s ability to think outside of the box is how he was able to communicate with Rocky initially. When given the capsule of xenon, Grace initially flips out because xenon is typically a gas, not a solid. While another scientist would probably try to uncover the secret of why xenon is behaving differently, Grace just accepts that reality is ‘broken’ in his eyes. Following his new logic, he’s able to invert the logic of “righty tighty, lefty loosey” to figure out how to open the capsule by twisting to the right instead. Grace’s ability to accept new, radical ideas makes him the perfect human to communicate with an alien that operates completely differently.

The one major spoiler of Project Hail Mary that answers the question ‘why is a schoolteacher in space?’ subverses one of the most prominent science fantasy tropes: the alien abduction. It is revealed towards the end of the film that one of the three selected people to go into space, the crew’s biologist, dies in an explosion three days prior to lift off. Needing a quick replacement, Grace is asked to go in their place. In a board room, Grace is effectively asked to die on the mission since there wouldn’t be enough fuel to return to Earth.

In an earlier scene, the two other crewmembers joke around about what is essentially their suicide pact. Grace is obviously uncomfortable with the idea, but respects their decision and bravery to commit to the mission. Yao, the captain, explains to Grace that it isn't innate bravery but a connection you need with someone to do it for. Back in the board room, Grace tries to decline the mission but Stratt explains that Grace “has no immediate family, not even a dog” and when he tries to argue about his students, she shuts him down and gives him three hours to think about his decision.

Now, I fully believed that Grace would agree to go. I mean, this is a movie. This is even part of the Hero’s Journey where Grace rejects the call to adventure, but eventually accepts it—it’s basic storytelling! But Grace isn’t brave. Grace isn’t an action hero. Grace is played by Ryan Gosling. Grace is a normal person who doesn’t want to die. So, he’s abducted. Chased down by the project’s security and doctors, tackled to the ground, and placed into a medically induced coma aboard the Project Hail Mary. Grace cries in this scene. It’s one of the only scenes where Grace sheds any tears on screen. He begs everyone around him to let him live. He begs Carl, the only person who seemed undoubtedly on his side at the start of the movie, to stop this. “You’re going to do great,” Carl says, and that’s why a schoolteacher is in space.

Rocky’s interactions are nothing like Grace’s life on Earth. Even when meeting alien life, Rocky is patient and sends messages multiple times. He waits for Grace to understand under the communication barrier. When they share the same space, Rocky builds a tunnel for Grace to take at his own pace, and moves into Grace’s ship instead of the other way around. Compared to how much Grace was dragged from one location to another on Earth, Rocky puts the effort on himself to adapt to Grace’s own space and pace.

A great comparison of how differently Grace is treated is how his own comfort is valued. When Grace is suddenly transported to the sea via helicopter, the first thing he does upon landing is stumbling to the ground and continuously vomits into the traffic cones on the landing pad. Stratt, paying little mind to this, just starts explaining the mission. When two coffees are brought to them–something Grace is obviously grateful for–Stratt says they’re both for her. She needs both. Grace brushes this off, despite how poor he’s doing, he moves on to the next topic: a shower, a nap—before being thrust into a room of the smartest people in the world to give a presentation on his new discovery.

This scene can be directly compared to Rocky and Grace’s first real sessions of mission collaboration in the connecting tunnel. After translating Rocky’s speech and building models for them both, Grace is completely worn out and declares he is going to sleep. However, Rocky stops Grace from returning to his ship to sleep. Eridians, the alien race Rocky is a part of, are completely defenseless and paralyzed while asleep, so Rocky pleads to be nearby Grace for the common Eridian sleeping ritual: sleeping directly on top of each other. Despite Grace explaining this behavior in his recordings as a “survival norm,” it’s much more implied to be a cultural norm similar to how humans act around their own family. When Rocky wants to be closer to Grace to watch him sleep and Grace denies it Rocky says “but Grace won’t feel comfortable and safe.” Watching another sleep and being close to them is not a requirement for an Eridian to sleep, but it’s a norm that maximizes their own comfort, similar to a hug for humans. In this moment, Rocky wants Grace to feel comfortable even if it doesn’t translate directly across the species.

Bringing these two scenes together is the talk about going home, and Grace revealing that he won’t be able to. Grace puts on a brave face about accepting his own death and making peace with it, but Rocky offers to give some of his own fuel so Grace goes home. This is the other scene where Grace openly cries, and attempts to hug Rocky, who doesn’t understand the concept. Now, some viewers have pointed out that Rocky’s “sacrifice” isn’t really a big deal because he just gets home slower so he’s not really giving something all that big up. And that’s true, but that would also be true of Stratt’s coffees.

Rocky expresses a desire to get back home to his mate because the time with them “isn’t enough” despite being nearly two hundred years. This is similar to Stratt “needing” two coffees. Technically, Rocky has already spent a lot of time with his mate, and Stratt is still getting caffeine. But their personal needs is to have more time with their mate and having more caffeine. Stratt could have given Grace one of her coffees, and she could get or receive another one just like how Rocky can just get back to his mate slower. But Stratt didn’t do that, and Rocky did.

Even in the scene where they both almost die to extract the astrophage’s predator from the newly named planet Adrian, it’s so different than on earth. Grace is stuck to the wall from the centripetal force of the ship’s spin, bleeding and disoriented as he tries to turn on the artificial gravity, but just barely fails to accomplish it. Grace closes his eyes and his body goes limp as alarms blare in the background, and Rocky watches on in horror from his environment-specific enclosure. The lights flash as Rocky decides to break containment to turn on the gravity, an action that would equivalently explode the human head from being in the wrong environment. As Rocky oozes and black ash dissolves off of him in Earth’s equivalent atmosphere, he gently carries Grace’s body to the ship’s medical robot before scuttling off to find a place he’d built on the ship to not hurt him. Compared to how violent Grace’s abduction from Earth was, Rocky’s care for Grace is unparalleled to what he experienced on Earth.

I’d be remiss to not mention the film’s ending because I think it’s very cute. After a complication with the astrophage’s predator, Grace makes the decision to not return to Earth himself and save Rocky from a slow and painful death. This results in Grace and Rocky both heading to Erid, Rocky’s home planet. The final scene of the movie sees Grace going through a morning routine in a small, decorated and warmly lit hut while someone pounds on the door. It’s revealed as Grace steps outside that he’s in a large enclosure that mimics a beach, somewhere he said he liked earlier in the movie to Rocky. Large mechanisms produce waves in the water and Grace comments how the lighting is perfect. Rocky asks via text on screen if Grace is sure, and Grace says “you know I like it foggy,” which establishes that Grace has fully ingested and understands the Eridian language.

The temperature of the enclosure’s water is inconsistent though, from freezing to boiling hot. Rocky says that he’ll “talk to Adrian about that.” This is personally my favorite line. Adrian is the human name for Rocky’s mate and the casual tone of the line suggests Grace’s familiarity with Adrian on a personal level which is very cute. The line also says that Adrian is also a scientist which adds some depth to this character with only a name but deep importance to one of the main characters.

Rocky tells Grace that the Eridians are done repairing the Hail Mary, meaning that Grace could finally return to Earth. But Grace asks if he could think about it, and is told to think for a very long time. It’s a great flip on Grace’s abduction and how differently he’s treated on Erid. Finally, it’s revealed that Grace is a schoolteacher to Erid’s youth, allowing him to return to a passion he held at the very beginning of the film and you can see the unbridled joy on Grace’s face.

Also had the idea for an overturned book to be hair but I think it ended up unnecessarily messy

I think knowing “your name” doesn’t allow you to leave the circus, but it does allow you to conjure freely. Other than Kinger, who is aware that the world is a game, the three other people we’ve seen conjure with (relative) ease is Caine, Pomni and Jax. Caine is an ai, but he built the circus, Pomni conjured the exit door/offices in ep 1 and 8, and Jax was able to conjure his tail back after realizing it was gone.

What’s the similarity? They all are human names. Caine was one of the first humans, Pomni is a Russian name and Jax is a more modern twist on the human name jack.

But why does Jax have a human name? Everyone else has a name relating to their model, so why Jax? My theory is that Jax either is HIS REAL NAME or Jax REMEMBERS his old name. If knowing your human name is vital to control in the digital world, then it also makes sense for Jax’s character because he’s a “master of unlocking things” referenced in ep 2 and 7.

This manifestation likely stems from his mind files as it seems like he’s prone to running away which I think what his role in episode 7. Abstraction is a form of escape(suicide), the car scene towards the end of the episode is likely Jax running away from something(escaping) and his choice to NOT escape the circus is a form of escape from the real world. Which leads me to think that if he did know his real name he wouldn’t use it to escape, but would still be an available key to him.

What does Pomni need to remember? Her name. Or at least what a name represents. I don’t think everyone is going to remember their old names, but instead invent new human names to be able to conjure easier. TADC has had themes about reality and what’s that means and if something you experience is real if it doesn’t actually happen in reality. So the gang finding acceptance in the ending by choosing new human names(likely inspired by the character names) would encapsulate the show.

So what’s in The Void? Nothing. That’s the point. In episode 1 Pomni’s eyes get all big when she stumbles into the void and it looks likes she on the verge of realizing something or having her world shattered. In the ending of episode one we zoom out of the circus into The Void, into The Void again, and finally at the computer screen. Pomni was likely traveling into the second instance of Void, and that’s likely where she could conjure up her own world in the way that you wake up from a dream do your morning routine, but you wake up again because you were still dreaming.

When the circus crumbles at the end of episode 8, we can see its just sitting in The Void instead on the “grounds” the circus was on. The circus(Caine) was likely limiting their ability to conjure and escaping into The Void will allow that to happen more freely, but likely they have to go into the “second instance” of Void.

But these are just my predictions based off the themes and characters of the show.