Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Welcome back to the Following Films Podcast.
On today’s episode, I’m talking with VFX supervisors Paul Lambert and Mag Sarnowska about their work on Project Hail Mary. The film just hit home video, so you can pick it up right now on 4K Blu-ray, DVD, or digital. Honestly, it’s easily one of the best movies to come out all year, so if you haven't seen it yet, you need to change that.
For those unfamiliar, the movie follows Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship with zero memory of who he is or how he got there. As his memory slowly comes back, he realizes he’s humanity's last hope to stop an extinction-level threat that's consuming the sun. He has to rely on pure science, trial and error, and an unexpected partnership with an alien engineer named Rocky to figure out a way to save Earth. What makes the film work so well—and why talking to Paul and Mag was so great—is how it grounds all this massive visual scale in practical problem-solving and a genuinely compelling friendship.
Before we get into that conversation, today’s episode is sponsored by Universal Pictures and their new release, Disclosure Day. That one is also out now on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD. The movie drops you right into the fallout of humanity discovering we aren't alone, focusing less on grand sci-fi spectacle and more on the chaotic, paranoid scramble of government cover-ups, media frenzy, and how ordinary people handle the rug being pulled out from under reality.
The team over at Universal sent over a copy of Disclosure Day on 4K Blu-ray for me to give away to one lucky listener. If you want to win it, just send an email over to editor@followingfilms.com. Make sure you include your full mailing address in the email so I actually know where to ship the disc if your name gets pulled.
Also, a quick heads-up for anyone in Arizona. I’ll be out at Tucson Comic Con over Labor Day weekend, running from September 4th through September 6th. I’m hosting 13 different panels across the weekend, so if you’re planning on attending, check out the schedule, come hang out, and say hello.
If you enjoy what we’re doing here, take a quick second to leave us a review on whatever app you're listening on, hit that subscribe button, and send this episode to a friend who loves movies.
Now, let's jump into my chat with Paul Lambert and Mag Sarnowska.
Welcome back to the Following Films Podcast.
On today’s episode, I’m talking with VFX supervisors Paul Lambert and Mag Sarnowska about their work on Project Hail Mary. The film just hit home video, so you can pick it up right now on 4K Blu-ray, DVD, or digital. Honestly, it’s easily one of the best movies to come out all year, so if you haven't seen it yet, you need to change that.
For those unfamiliar, the movie follows Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher who wakes up alone on a spaceship with zero memory of who he is or how he got there. As his memory slowly comes back, he realizes he’s humanity's last hope to stop an extinction-level threat that's consuming the sun. He has to rely on pure science, trial and error, and an unexpected partnership with an alien engineer named Rocky to figure out a way to save Earth. What makes the film work so well—and why talking to Paul and Mag was so great—is how it grounds all this massive visual scale in practical problem-solving and a genuinely compelling friendship.
Before we get into that conversation, today’s episode is sponsored by Universal Pictures and their new release, Disclosure Day. That one is also out now on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD. The movie drops you right into the fallout of humanity discovering we aren't alone, focusing less on grand sci-fi spectacle and more on the chaotic, paranoid scramble of government cover-ups, media frenzy, and how ordinary people handle the rug being pulled out from under reality.
The team over at Universal sent over a copy of Disclosure Day on 4K Blu-ray for me to give away to one lucky listener. If you want to win it, just send an email over to editor@followingfilms.com. Make sure you include your full mailing address in the email so I actually know where to ship the disc if your name gets pulled.
Also, a quick heads-up for anyone in Arizona. I’ll be out at Tucson Comic Con over Labor Day weekend, running from September 4th through September 6th. I’m hosting 13 different panels across the weekend, so if you’re planning on attending, check out the schedule, come hang out, and say hello.
If you enjoy what we’re doing here, take a quick second to leave us a review on whatever app you're listening on, hit that subscribe button, and send this episode to a friend who loves movies.
Now, let's jump into my chat with Paul Lambert and Mag Sarnowska.







![Pat Healy on CHEAP THRILLS, COMPLIANCE, and MAGNOLIA
Healy was born in Chicago, Illinois. He played the lead character Craig in E.L. Katz’ dark comedy thriller Cheap Thrills, and substantial central roles in Ti Wests The Innkeepers, Craig Zobels Great World of Sound, and Compliance (also directed by Zobel). He has also appeared in memorable supporting roles in Magnolia (as the pharmacist at the receiving end of Julianne Moores profane meltdown), Ghost World, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Harmony and Me, Dirty Girl, Snow Angels, Rescue Dawn (2006), Undertow, Pearl Harbor, and Home Alone 3.
He also appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Draft Day starring Kevin Costner.
On television, he has starred on Eagleheart, and appeared on Six Feet Under, Star Trek: Enterprise, 24, Grey’s Anatomy, The Shield, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace, NCIS, Cold Case, Charmed, CSI: Miami, Chicago Hope, NYPD Blue, and The Practice.
Pat has written three episodes of HBO’s In Treatment (Weeks 1-3 of Walter’s – played by John Mahoney – sessions in Season 2), and wrote and directed the 2000 short film Mullitt starring Healy, Michael Shannon and Henry Gibson.
He is an ex-member of the comedy sketch group, The Pretty Okay Ho-Hum Spectacular on Ice! .[3] 2015 played also one of the leading roles in the Anthology film Tales of Halloween Pat Healy on CHEAP THRILLS, COMPLIANCE, and MAGNOLIA](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8udQko2WXdY/mqdefault.jpg)


