Loved 'Project Hail Mary'? Here're 5 More Sci-Fi Movies About Lone Wanderers in Space
What happens to a person when they are left alone with an endless black void?
Project Hail Mary has had a successful run at the box office. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's movie has already been dubbed the best sci-fi blockbuster of 2026 – and for good reason.
We've recalled five more sci-fi movies in which the characters must struggle with technical problems and their own sanity.
1. 'Moon', 2009
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
Astronaut Sam Bell has spent the last three years alone on the moon. He works for the Lunar Industries, monitoring an automated station that mines a rare gas.
Two weeks before his tour ends, he has an accident in a lunar rover and meets a replacement who looks exactly like him.
Duncan Jones' feature-length directorial debut, Moon, is a paranoid thriller that relies heavily on Sam Rockwell's charisma.
2. 'Oxygen', 2021
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
A blonde girl wakes up in a cryogenic chamber. She doesn't remember her name or how she ended up locked away.
When the oxygen levels plummet, her voice assistant, M.I.L.O., informs her that she is one of 10,000 people chosen to colonize an unnamed planet because humanity is dying from a dangerous virus.
However, due to a damaged capsule, the woman awakens early.
3. 'The Martian', 2015
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
Mars, near future. A group of six astronauts is evacuated in haste due to an approaching sandstorm. Botanist Mark falls behind, leading the others to mistakenly believe he is dead.
When Mark regains consciousness, he realizes he is alone on an uninhabited planet. He has lost communication with Earth, but the habitat module is intact. Mark must live there for the next three years, awaiting the next expedition to Mars.
The Martian is also based on Andy Weir's novel. Scott and Drew Goddard meticulously adapted the book for the big screen. Despite the spaceships, The Martian is a classic Robinson Crusoe-esque tale in which the main character must grow potatoes and avoid going mad from loneliness.
4. 'Gravity', 2013
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
Ryan Stone is a brilliant biomedical engineer. However, she must demonstrate her professional skills in extreme conditions.
She is a member of the Explorer crew, which is tasked with servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. During one of their missions, the astronauts are caught in a hailstorm of space debris.
Stone and Captain Kowalski are the only survivors of the collision, but only one of them will be able to reach the rescue shuttle and return home.
5. 'Solaris', 1972
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Scientist Kris Kelvin arrives at a space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris. The local inhabitants are exhausted and uncooperative.
Unexpectedly, Kris begins to be visited by his deceased wife, Hari. She committed suicide ten years ago after a domestic dispute.
Solaris is a true masterpiece of world cinema and one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. Director Andrei Tarkovsky created a complex, humanistic drama about the power of faith, love, and forgiveness.
