"Project Hail Mary" is getting an overwhelmingly positive reception from critics, audiences and the industry.  And now there's intense buzz about PHM’s “cleanness”.  There isn’t a dirty word to be heard, and the movie only asks that you soak up its good vibes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the town is talking about the "lessons" the industry needs to learn from PHM’s blockbuster-scale success.

The main takeaway seems to be, Keep it pristine and simple.  Cozy. For at least three decades movies have pummeled us with cynical, foul-mouthed "realistic" grit.

Is Hollywood now actually saying, Let's go clean and gooey and make lots of money?  Indeed, PHM will earn its $200 million cost three times over.  It may not reach the "Oppenheimer" level of nearly $1 billion, but still….

Unlike “Oppenheimer”, PHM is sheer fantasy.  Light-years space travel is illusory; and the soft buddy comedy at its core feels like the same "struggle" and "triumph" that animation has relied on for decades.  Does anyone believe this formula is a long-term viable new path for movies?