''Mars Express'' is a 2023 French animated

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by Jérémie Périn in his first film. Written by Périn and Laurent Sarfati, the story is set in the 23rd century on Mars and follows Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera, private investigators who are tasked with solving a missing persons case where two students at an elite university are reported missing. The film was initially released in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

on May 5, 2023 before a public release on November 22 in France. An English-dub was released on May 3, 2024.

Plot

In 2200, Aline Ruby, a private detective, and Carlos Rivera, an android replica of her partner who died five years earlier, are sent to Earth to capture Roberta Williams, a robot-hacking criminal. Back on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, Roberta's arrest warrant has disappeared and she is released. A new investigation is entrusted to the duo: to track down Jun Chow, a cybernetics student known for illegally jailbreaking androids who, like her roommate, has gone missing. Aline and Carlos venture to the depths of Noctis, the main terrestrial establishment of Mars created thanks to the progress of robotics, and where humans and various forms of androids seem to coexist in harmony. The city turns out to hide secrets such as trafficking and clandestine computer labs. Meanwhile, activists try to free the robots from the security constraints that bind them to humans. Ultimately, the robots are successfully emancipated and revolt, but peacefully, by uploading their consciousnesses to computers aboard spaceships and thus escaping to space. Carlos, grief-stricken by the loss of his partner and realizing that he is a dead consciousness embodied in a machine who has been "trying to hold onto a life that's moved on without him", decides to go with the robots.

Voice cast

Influences and inspiration

''Mars Express'' is the first feature film of Jérémie Périn, a French animator known for the 2016 animated TV series Lastman. Périn said he was inspired by hard-boiled

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

detectives in movies such as ''

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

'', '' The Long Goodbye'', ''

Kiss Me Deadly ''Kiss Me Deadly'' is a 1955 American film noir produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, and Wesley Addy. It also features Maxine Cooper and Cloris Leachman appearing i ...

'', and '' Point Blank''. Since the protagonists of those were all men he wanted to see the differences when a woman was put in the main role. Périn said he was also inspired by movies in which the protagonist realizes that they are in a conspiracy that is too big for them, such as ''

Three Days of the Condor ''Three Days of the Condor'' is a 1975 American spy thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. The screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Rayfiel was based on the ...

'', ''

All the President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...

'', '' The Parallax View'', ''

Blow Out ''Blow Out'' is a 1981 American independent mystery thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-bud ...

'', and ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...

''. The inspiration for the organic machines and weapons in the film came from Périn hearing that

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

was working on technology for skin cells. This led to the idea that ultimately tech would complete a full circle back to organics, something "close to us, but at the same time, they are monsters". He also tied the replacement of the robots with organics to planned obsolescence, which he wanted to lampoon.

Production

''Mars Express'' is an Everybody on Deck production. It had a €9 million budget.

Release

The film premiered in the Cinéma de la Plage section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2023. It also made it to the competitive slate of the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of June in the town of Annecy, France. Initially occurring ever ...

. It was released theatrically in France on 22 November 2023 by Gebeka Films.

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film and television distributor owned by Toho International. Based in New York City, GKIDS releases mostly international animated films and television series to North American audiences, as well as American films by indepe ...

acquired the film's North American rights and released it on 3 May 2024 with both its original French language and an English dub. The film was released by GKIDS in North America on both digital and Blu-ray formats on 18 June 2024.

Reception

Critical response

Rafael Motamayor of ''

/Film ''/Film'', also spelled ''SlashFilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005. The site's reviews appear on Rotten Tomatoes, and as of 2024, two of its leading film cr ...

'' rated the film 8 out of 10 points, writing it "works because even its most outlandish and complex sci-fi concept is grounded in human drama". Wendy Ide of ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' deemed the film to be "striking and timely animation". Toussaint Egan of ''Polygon'' called the film "the best animated movie of the year you probably haven't seen or heard about yet."

Accolades

References

External links

* 2020s French animated films 2020s French-language films 2020s mystery thriller films 2020s science fiction thriller films 2023 action thriller films 2023 animated films 2023 science fiction action films Animated action films Animated films about robots Animated films set in outer space Animated films set in the 23rd century Animated mystery films Animated thriller films Films about androids France 3 Cinéma films French action thriller films French animated science fiction films French mystery thriller films French neo-noir films French science fiction action films French science fiction thriller films Mars in film Techno-thriller films{{authority control