Finding good aroace representation in cinema is hard. In honor of Asexual Awareness Week, here is a short analysis of why Project Hail Mary holds one of the best aroace characterizations of recent years.
Aromanticism, asexuality, and aromantic-asexuality (or aroace) are three of the most underrepresented and misrepresented queer identities in cinema. Adding to that thought, people love to see themselves in characters, so it’s no wonder that when the aroace community found kinship in some of Ryland Grace’s experiences in the movie Project Hail Mary (2026), they have collectively decided to adopt him as one of them. The movie shows that romantic love is not necessary to feel love and feel accomplished, something that a lot of aroace people, including me, struggle with. I mean, it’s not everyday that a nerdy middle school science teacher is sent to space against his will to save the world under the excuse that he does not have any romantic ties with anyone, and ends up saving humanity and the whole universe with the power of friendship.
I want you to know, before reading this, that I will be discussing the movie in its entirety, including spoilers. Now that this is said, let me give you some background information before diving right into the thick of the subject.
What is the aroace identity?
Aroace, or in its long form, aromantic-asexuality, is a queer label that describes in general terms people who feel little to no romantic and sexual attraction. These people tend to not be involved in romantic or sexual relationships with other people. However, some aromantic and asexual people do have romantic and/or sexual relationships with others, as aromanticism and asexuality are spectrums.
The opposite, in a way, of aromanticism and asexuality are alloromanticism and allosexuality. These are the identities that are considered the norm by almost everyone, as they refer to experiencing romantic and sexual attraction toward others.
What is Project Hail Mary?
Throughout this post, when talking about Project Hail Mary–PHM for short, I will be exclusively referring to the 2026 movie starring Ryan Gosling.
The movie is an adaptation of the book of the same title by Andy Weir that came out in 2021. The movie recounts the story of Ryland Grace, a middle school teacher, waking up with no memories in space, 11.5 light years away from Earth. He needs to find a way to save Earth and, by proxy, the universe from what they call Astrophage, or star-eater. On his journey, he encounters an alien he names Rocky who has the same goal as him: to save his home planet, Erid. As the movie goes on, we learn more about what led Grace onto the Hail Mary, the spaceship.
Canon vs fanon characterization
When speaking of “canon” events and characterization, the term “canon” refers to what actually—canonically—happens and what the character is like in the piece of art. When speaking of “fanon” elements, the term “fanon” refers to the fans’ interpretations and new characteristics that emerge after consuming the original piece. One example of “fanon” elements are “headcanons.” Headcanons are made up facts that are often in harmony with the original portrayal of a character, but are not confirmed by the source material or the author. For instance, Ryland Grace being aroace is a headcanon that is generally accepted by the whole PHM fandom.
Ryland Grace as an aroace character
Unintentionally, PHM captured part of the aroace experience quite accurately: people believing aroace people are unable to love in any form simply because they don’t experience romantic and sexual attraction to the same degree as alloromantic and allosexual people.
In PHM, Grace is alone, even before he is sent to space. When talking with Rocky, he mentions that he has had a singular romantic relationship with someone and that it didn’t end well; she ended up with Mark, one of her coworkers. He is even somewhat ridiculed by Eva Stratt—the leader of the Hail Mary project—when she argues that he doesn’t have a family or a partner, not even a dog, as a way of saying he has no one to live for and there is nothing that should make him want to stay on Earth instead of going on a suicide mission in space to save humanity.
However, even with what Eva Stratt says about his life, he isn’t unhappy, or lonely, or emotionless simply because of his lack of romantic/sexual relationships. He has his students and he has his job; he loves the world differently, but they can’t see that.
Some common misconception about aroace people is that they are unable to feel love. That is so far from the truth. There is not solely one kind of love, and Grace shows that. He loves and cares about Earth, about his students, about his job… He cries when Rocky gives him the chance to go back home even if they betrayed him by sending him lightyears away without his consent. He cares and loves.
His relationship with Rocky is what really makes Grace a great representation of an aroace person. He builds his relationship with Rocky from the ground; he creates a way to communicate with him, helps him build his own circuit of passages aboard the Hail Mary so that they can cohabit, he lets Rocky watch over him as he sleeps even if it slightly creeps him out at the start, and most importantly, he renounces to going back to Earth to save Rocky. Grace and Rocky have one of the best examples of a platonic relationship in all forms of fictional media.
Their relationship and the way Grace lives once he gets on Erid shows how you don’t need to have a romantic or sexual relationship with someone to be fulfilled in life, something that, as I’ve stated earlier, many aroace people struggle with being accepted for.
In short, even if it is not officially “canon,” Ryland Grace is widely accepted as being aroace due to his extremely accurate depiction of an aroace experience by the way he loves and how his life is affected by it.
Sources:
“Aromantic Asexual | LGBTQIA+ Wiki | Fandom.” Wiki Fandom, lgbtqia.fandom.com/wiki/Aromantic_asexual.
Project Hail Mary. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, performances by Ryan Gosling, Sandra Hüller, James Ortiz, and Lionel Boyce, 2026.
Writer: Mia Bouchard; Editor: Anonym Student; Picture: Pinterest
