There’s a lot to love about the recently released film Project Hail Mary. It’s got big ideas, heart, and it tells the story of one of the best unlikely friendships.
But, one of the film’s other interesting ideas barely got any screen time at all, and I think the story might be strong enough to carry its own movie, like a companion film.
I’m talking about Eva Stratt’s story.
While Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, is out in deep space trying to save humanity, there’s an entirely different kind of chaos unfolding back on Earth. It’s something that feels less like sci-fi adventure and more like a tense, globe-spanning political thriller.
In the novel there’s a subplot about the desperate measures humanity takes to buy time, including a plan to detonate a nuclear explosion in Antarctica. It’s the kind of extreme decision that shows just how messed up things get, but we don’t know any of this happened in the movie, and Eva Stratt is at the center of it all.
In the movie, Stratt, played by Sandra Hüller, is the one who’s leading the charge on Project Hail Mary. She pulls together the world’s best minds, makes impossible calls, and pushes forward no matter who she has to step over to get results. She’s not written as a traditional hero, and that’s what makes her so compelling.
But after Grace launches into space, things on Earth don’t exactly hold together.
As directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller revealed, governments eventually turn on Stratt. The same people who backed her when the mission was humanity’s best hope end up dragging her into court and sentencing her to life in prison.
Because in the version of the story that exists just under the surface, Stratt doesn’t stay locked up. She manages to escape, and I just think this whole subplot would make for a great film!
You’ve got a world slowly falling apart as the sun continues to dim. Nations that once cooperated are now scrambling to survive.
Political alliances fracture, resources run thin, and fear starts driving drastic decisions. In the middle of all that, the architect of humanity’s last hope is branded a criminal and thrown behind bars, and then she breaks out.
That setup has everything you want in a high-stakes thriller. You could follow Stratt as she navigates a collapsing global order, dodging authorities, leveraging old connections, and trying to keep what’s left of the mission alive. She’s not just running from the law, she’s racing against extinction.
It flips the tone of Project Hail Mary in a really cool way.
Out in space, Grace’s story is about discovery, cooperation, and hope. Back on Earth, Stratt’s story would be about survival, sacrifice, and the cost of doing what needs to be done when the world turns against you. Two sides of the same coin, happening at the same time.
The tension of the story would come from political maneuvering, backroom deals, prison breaks, and the constant pressure of a ticking clock as Earth edges closer to disaster. Think something in the vein of a smart, character-driven thriller, but with the added weight that failure means the end of everything.
She’s decisive, morally complex, and willing to cross lines that most people wouldn’t. A companion film could really dig into the consequences of Stratt’s choices. Did she go too far? Did she save humanity at the cost of her own humanity? And when the world turns on her, does she regret any of it? Or does she double down?
There’s also a fascinating contrast to explore between how history would view her versus what she’s actually doing in the moment. Public enemy. War criminal. Savior. All of those labels could be thrown at her depending on who’s telling the story.
Meanwhile, somewhere out there, Grace is still fighting to bring back a solution.
That parallel storytelling could make for something really special. You’d have audiences watching two completely different battles unfold, one in the silence of space and one in the chaos of Earth, both tied together by the same mission.
It’s the kind of idea that feels too good to leave as a hidden detail.
If Project Hail Mary has proven anything, it’s that audiences are all in on this world. Expanding it with a grounded, intense companion film centered on Stratt wouldn’t just make sense, it could elevate the entire story even more.
