‘Project Hail Mary’
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Working on this column involves watching a lot of despair-inducing stories about intractable challenges, from environmental wreckage to technology run amok. But problems always have solutions in the two movies based on Andy Weir novels — “The Martian” (2015) and now “Project Hail Mary.”
Like its predecessor, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s film may be set in outer space but it relies on quaint values like tinkering, perseverance and problem-solving ingenuity, and emphasizes the importance of cooperation. In “Project Hail Mary,” Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) is the only survivor of a last-ditch mission to stop cosmic microorganisms from eating away at the sun’s energy and causing an extinction event on Earth. A gifted biologist who ended up teaching kids before being selected for the one-way journey to outer space, Ryland eventually teams up with an envoy from the equally endangered planet Erid whom he names Rocky. The movie mines their relationship to sometimes cavity-inducing sweetness, but it’s also hard not to be seduced by the odd couple’s chemistry as they attempt to figure out how the heck to defeat the so-called astrophage. In our current moment, a movie about building alliances with aliens to solve universal problems feels downright refreshing. Unexpected bonus: a dryly funny turn by the German actress Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”) in a key supporting role.
A whole cottage industry has emerged from claims of U.F.O. sightings in the United States — places like Roswell in New Mexico and Area 51 in Nevada are entrenched in pop culture at this point. No matter what one thinks of those phenomena, they have not inspired as many books and movies in other countries. This makes Dominique Filhol’s addition to the flying-saucer canon automatically interesting, especially since it draws on real events that happened six decades ago.
This French movie starts off like a Marcel Pagnol-esque paean to life in Provence, with locals drinking pastis at cafe terraces and eating croissants. The idyllic setting is thrown into turmoil when a shaken Maurice (Matthias Van Khache) announces that he has seen a small spaceship in his lavender field, with humanoid creatures ambling about. His wife, Jeanette (Vahina Giocante), is not sure what to make of her husband’s story, and soon little Valensole is the center of a media circus. Some theorize that the strange object was an aircraft from a military operation taking place nearby, but then what to make of the strange marks left in the field? Filhol is clearly sympathetic toward Maurice, who comes across as sincere, and is wrecked by all the attention he must withstand.
Daniel (Mark O’Brien) and Michelle (Constance Wu), both astrophysicists, live on an isolated farm, home-schooling their children (Callista Crowe and Isaac Smelcer-Zhang). The property features a small research station set up in an underground bunker, from which Daniel obsessively monitors the skies. Right after he spots an anomaly that suggests the existence of alien life, all hell breaks loose: Communications disappear and a swarm of menacing drones materializes out of nowhere. The family takes off in their truck and heads toward the one person they feel will understand what’s going on: Michelle’s estranged father (Oscar Hsu), also a scientist. He does reveal a big piece of the puzzle, and it involves artificial intelligence. So now there are two huge unknowns to deal with: possible aliens and A.I.
That’s a lot for one movie, and William Woods’s “The Outer Threat” leaves much unexplained. At its best, it focuses on the arguments between Daniel and Michelle, who embody very different worldviews and thus different ways to respond to the new threats. Daniel tells her, “You have such little faith in humanity,” to which she responds, “Not without reason.” I have to say, I think I’m Team Michelle on this one.
If you’ve ever mused about what Lovecraft as a psychosexual horror rom-com would be like, Addison Heimann’s movie offers the beginning of an answer. “Touch Me” starts with an extended monologue in which Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley, “The Magicians”) recounts to a therapist her relationship with a tracksuit-wearing, human-looking alien named Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci). This is only delayed gratification because we do get to meet Brian, a pansexual being who has his way with both Joey and her gay roommate, Craig (Jordan Gavaris, from “Orphan Black”). Heimann plays the two friends’ complicated relationship for comedy, and their interactions with Brian have a surreal flair — which is bound to happen considering the alien is, er, tentacled.
The portrayal of Brian’s hold on his partners lands like a satire of codependency and of gurus who use sexuality to control people while pretending to help them deal with their traumas. “Touch Me” meanders at times, but at least Heimann applies a distinctive aesthetic and sensibility — neon fetishism? — to this close encounter of the kinky kind.
After “Strawberry Mansion,” which he wrote and directed with Kentucker Audley, Albert Birney confirms his status as one of the most interesting figures in American weird cinema. Here he once again summons a sui generis universe, rooted in the bygone days of analog technology and pixelated aesthetics.
Set in 1987, “OBEX” follows Conor (Birney), a Baltimore recluse who creates portraits of people with his Apple computer’s keyboard characters — for viewers of a certain generation, the dot-matrix printer’s sound will act as a veritable Proustian madeleine. For entertainment, he practices a primitive version of karaoke (his take on Gary Numan’s “Cars” is especially good). Conor’s only companion is his dog, Sandy, so his world crumbles when she disappears after he starts playing the mysterious title game. Conor transforms into a fantasy avatar to enter the game’s world, leading to mind-melding adventures where it’s unclear what’s real and what isn’t. Sustained by superb black-and-white cinematography (by Pete Ohs, who wrote the screenplay with Birney) and constantly inventive art direction, this film feels like a Bizarro version of “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” — unsettling under an eccentric exterior.
