In 2200, private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera are hired by a wealthy businessman to track down a notorious hacker. On Mars, they descend deep into the underbelly of the planet’s capital city where they uncover a darker story of brain farms, corruption, and a missing girl who holds a secret about the robots that threatens to change the face of the universe.
Combining 2D and 3D animation, this stylish, smart, and futuristic sci-fi film noir is an adrenaline-fueled, cinematic adventure packed with humor and exhilarating action sequences. This prescient entry from French director Jérémie Périn draws inspiration from Brian De Palma to Paul Verhoeven to classic Japanese animation, sparking the current conversation about AI anxiety through pop culture references and hard-boiled themes.
“A visually stunning 2D animated film with a fully realized sci-fi world, one that takes the fears and concerns of GHOST IN THE SHELL and updates it to 2023 and the rise of A.I…. MARS EXPRESS works because even its most outlandish and complex sci-fi concept is grounded in human drama.” —Rafael Motamayor, Slash Film
“A noir sci-fi thriller that features both a complex mystery and a deeper philosophical exploration of what it means to be alive, or more to the point, to be aware of being alive… MARS EXPRESS at once feels rich in its design, and complex in its stories, but at its heart it's asking the question that most works of art ask: what does it mean to be human?” —Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Screen Anarchy