The much-anticipated sci-fi film Project Hail Mary is out in theaters today. In it, light-eating alien microbes sap the sun’s energy, threatening life on Earth with extinction. To find a solution, an unlikely hero—a middle school teacher played by Ryan Gosling—is sent on a one-way mission to the star Tau Ceti and encounters an otherworldly sidekick nicknamed Rocky along the way.

Project Hail Mary opened in theaters nationwide on Friday.

From Gosling's gripping central performance to his character's incredibly sweet friendship with a rock-shaped alien he dubs "Rocky" (puppeted and voiced by James Ortiz), there's a lot to love in "Proj...