‘Project Hail Mary’ — a Futuristic Throwback Movie

At the beginning of Project Hail Mary, the title card reads, “An Amazon Original Film,” before the MGM lion appears, albeit silently. Back in 2016, TV’s South Park created the phrase “member berries” to describe how, even a decade ago, so many shows on streaming platforms such as Amazon’s are built around callbacks to the beloved older TV shows and movies that inspired them, such as the many Star Wars series on Disney+ and the many Star Trek series on Paramount+. If you’re a fan of the science fiction genre, you’ll recognize many of the member berries and tropes that...