Mars Express (film)

Mars Express
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jérémie Périn
Written by	Laurent Sarfati Jérémie Périn
Produced by	Didier Creste
Starring	Léa Drucker Mathieu Amalric Daniel Njo Lobé Marie Bouvet Sébastien Chassagne Marthe Keller
Edited by	Lila Desiles
Music by	Fred Avril Philippe Monthaye
Production companies	Everybody on Deck Je Suis Bien Content EV.L Prod Plume Finance France 3 Cinéma Shine Conseils Gebeka Films Amopix
Distributed by	Gebeka Films
Release dates	23 May 2023 (2023-05-23) (Cannes) 22 November 2023 (2023-11-22) (France)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	€9 million[1]
Box office	$1.5 million[2]

Mars Express is a 2023 French animated cyberpunk film co-written and directed by Jérémie Périn.

Synopsis

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. However, back on Mars, Roberta's arrest warrant has disappeared and she is released.

A new investigation is then 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 will have to 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.

However, the city hides dark 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. Through Carlos, we see a being making "the transition from the human perspective [...] to the robot point of view."^[3]

Voice cast

• Léa Drucker as Aline Ruby^[4]
• Mathieu Amalric as Chris Royjacker^[1]
• Daniel Njo Lobé [fr] as Carlos Rivera^[1]
• Marie Bouvet as Roberta Williams^[4]
• Sébastien Chassagne [fr] as Inspector Simon Gordaux^[4]
• Marthe Keller as Beryl^[4]
• Geneviève Doang [fr] as Jun Chow^[4]
• Thomas Roditi [fr] as LEM
• Usul [fr] as the professor

Director

Jérémie Périn is a French animator known for the 2016 animated TV series Lastman as well as several "virally popular" and "emphatically NSFW" music videos for electronic dance artists such as DyE and Lionel Flairs. Mars Express was his first feature film.^[3]

Influences and inspiration

In an interview, the director said he was inspired by hard-boiled film noir detectives in movies such as Chinatown, The Long Goodbye, Kiss Me Deadly, and Point Blank. Since the protagonists were all men, however, he wanted to see if a woman was put in the role, would there be some differences.^[3]

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, All the President's Men, The Parallax View, Blow Out, and The Conversation.^[3]

The inspiration for the organic machines and weapons in the film leads back to the director hearing that Google 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.^[3]

Production

The film is an Everybody on Deck production.^[4] It had a €9 million budget.^[1]

Release

The film premiered in the Cinéma de la Plage section of the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2023.^[5] It also made it to the competitive slate of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.^[6] It was released theatrically in France on 22 November 2023 by Gebeka Films.^[7][8] GKIDS acquired the film's North American rights and released it on 3 May 2024 with both its original French language and an English dub.^[9][10]

Home media

The film is set to be released by GKIDS in North America on both digital and Blu-ray formats on 18 June 2024.^[11]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 100% of 27 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.^[12]

Rafael Motamayor of /Film 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".^[13]

Wendy Ide of Screen Daily deemed the film to be "striking and timely animation".^[4]

Toussaint Egan of Polygon called the film "the best animated movie of the year you probably haven't seen or heard about yet."^[3]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Lumières Award	22 January 2024	Best Animated Film	Mars Express	Nominated	[14]
Paris Film Critics Association Awards	4 February 2024	Best Animated Film		Won	[15]
International Cinephile Society	11 February 2024	Best Animated Film		Nominated	[16]
César Awards	23 February 2024	Best Animated Film		Nominated	[17]

See also

• List of films set on Mars
• List of French films of 2023

References

1. Guedj, Phillipe (22 November 2023). "« Mars Express » : un réjouissant spectacle high-tech". Le Point (in French). Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
2. "Mars Express (2023)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
3. Egan, Toussaint (23 June 2024). "Mars Express' fascinating vision of a robotic future was inspired by film noir and Big Tech". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
4. Ide, Wendy (12 June 2023). "'Mars Express': Annecy Review". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
5. "Cannes 2023 – Jour 7 : Pierre Niney et Michel Gondry, le vomi de Club Zero, Cotillard superstar". Première (in French). 23 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
6. Croll, Ben (11 June 2023). "'Mars Express' Director Jérémie Périn Mixes Mature Themes With Anime Influences in Noirish Sci-Fi Thriller". Variety. Archived from the original on 13 June 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
7. Leffler, Rebecca (26 October 2023). "mk2 Films scores US, key international deals on animated sci-fi noir 'Mars Express' (exclusive)". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
8. "Mars Express" (in French). Gebeka Films. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
9. "GKIDS Acquires North American Rights to "Mars Express"". GKIDS. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
10. Milligan, Mercedes (28 March 2024). "New Trailer: GKIDS Launches 'Mars Express' NorAm Mission May 3". Animation Magazine.
11. ""Mars Express" Comes to Blu-Ray" (Press release). GKIDS. 20 May 2024.
12. "Mars Express". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
13. Motamayor, Rafael (20 June 2023). "Mars Express Review: France's Answer To Ghost In The Shell Makes For Thrilling Sci-Fi Noir [Annecy 2023]". /Film. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
14. Goodfellow, Melanie (22 January 2024). "'Anatomy Of A Fall' & 'The Animal Kingdom' Take Top Prizes At France's Lumière Awards". Deadline Hollywood.
15. Mézière, Sandra (5 February 2024). "Palmarès des Paris Film Critics Awards 2024". In the Mood for Cinema (in French).
16. Stevens, Beth (11 February 2024). "2024 ICS Award Winners". International Cinephile Society. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
17. Barat, Mathilde (23 February 2024). "César 2024: Anatomie d'une chute sacré meilleur film. Le palmarès complet de la 49e cérémonie". Le Figaro (in French).

External links

• Mars Express at IMDb