Hacking attacks are causing androids to act dangerously and a cybernetics student is missing. Tasked with finding her, detectives Aline and Carlos uncover a conspiracy that threatens both humankind and androids. An animated neo-noir science fiction film by Jérémie Périn.

Year 2200, on Mars, Noctis police officer Charles Malot visits Dominique Viger’s dorm room. Dominique lets him in because she believes he wants to check on her roommate Jun Chow after Jun filed a report that a robot attacked her. Suddenly, Charles grabs Dominique’s head and breaks her neck instantly.

Charles searches the apartment and finds a robotic cat, which he violently shoots before managing to hide Dominique’s body and leave, without realizing Jun is hiding in the bathtub and witnessing everything from the beginning.

Private detectives Aline Ruby and Carlos Rivera, an android replica of her partner who died five years ago, are sent to Earth to apprehend Roberta Williams, a hacker who is responsible for illegal jailbreaking robots.

However, once they return to Mars with Roberta, Noctis police administrators inform them that there is no warrant for Roberta Williams. Carlos attempts to search for the arrest warrant on the server, only to find that the record has been erased. With no other options, they are forced to let Roberta go.

At her office, Aline is approached by a man who wants to hire her to find his daughter Jun Chow, as he has been worried about her for not hearing anything from his daughter for three days. He claims that the police are after Jun for hacking a school robot. Since then she has disappeared along with her roommate.

Aline and Carlos head to Alan Turing University’s division of cybernetics to investigate. There, they meet the dean, who shows them footage from the day Jun’s jailbreaking supposedly went wrong. The footage depicts the robot attempting to attack Jun before fleeing the scene.

The dean escorts them to the shared dorm room of Dominique and Jun, still an active crime scene from the shooting despite no bodies being found. A putrid odor hangs heavy in the air. As they investigate, Aline discovers the gamma, an experimental molecule acting as a memory booster, believing it could allow the user to revisit suppressed or erased memories. Meanwhile, Carlos scans the room and detects something hidden on the ceiling. Taking charge, Aline climbs up to investigate and discovers Dominique’s corpse.

Informed about their daughter’s murder, Aline takes Jun’s father to meet Dominique’s parents at Noctis Police Headquarters, hoping they can shed some light on Jun’s whereabouts. When questioned about the gamma found in the dorm room, Dominique’s mother explodes, claiming it was all Jun’s fault. She asserts that Jun’s parents are just technicians on a hydrofarm, which makes it impossible for them to afford tuition at the best university in Noctis. Later, Simon Gordaux, the police officer in charge of the investigation, reveals to Jun that Dominique suspected her of prostitution.

In an attempt to locate Jun, Simon searches Jun’s records and finds police record of Jun contacted the police on the day she was attacked by the robot. Simon suggests that the killer likely intercepted the call and got there first, unfortunately executed the wrong girl. However, Gibert, organic computer, claims that it would be impossible to intercept police calls due to complex protocols. Simon then digs into Jun’s bank accounts and discovers large sums of money transaction transferred to her parents who were laid off three months ago. The money’s origin is untraceable, Simon suspects it must be dirty, possibly from prostitution.

The next day, Inspector Simon notifies Aline that the police have found the runaway android Jun hacked. They both drive to an deserted underground facility where the first Mars colonists used to live. The android was destroyed by three augmented individuals, possibly mercenaries. The police are confused why someone would send a team of augmented humans to hunt down a worthless android.

Inside one of the old tunnels, they discover unexplained weird markings resembling diagrams and mathematical equations on the walls, made by the runaway android. At the end of the tunnel, they are shocked to learn that the runaway android was building a spaceship with salvaged components.

Aline and Carlos visit XBODY, an exclusive club for humans enjoying the pleasure of android replicas, after learning that a young woman resembling Jun was spotted at the venue. It is revealed that Jun had made an android replica of herself to work at this club, earning money for her university tuition fee, even though it’s considered an illegal act to make a backup of oneself while the original is still alive. Jun also mentions that she had another job but couldn’t keep up with it anymore. Unfortunately, a group of augmented humans tracks them down and succeeds in their mission of killing Jun.

The plot thickens at Jun’s funeral when Aline and Carlos realize that Jun’s father isn’t the same man who visited their office asking them to find his daughter. They were played all along, leading the killers right to Jun, allowing them to finish their mission. Carlos visits Roberta for assistance as she is the only criminal they know who possesses deep knowledge about android hackings.

Initially hesitant to help, Roberta changes her mind after Carlos shows her the footage of the runaway android June worked on. She immediately recognizes that it wasn’t a simple modification, but a software takeover, which is much more complicated. With a takeover, the user can order the machine to do absolutely anything they want, even overriding all its directives. It’s evident that Jun couldn’t achieve the software takeover by herself. But who is the mastermind behind all of it, and what is their true purpose?

Directed by French filmmaker Jérémie Périn in his directorial debut, MARS EXPRESS is based on a screenplay he co-wrote with Laurent Sarfati. The film features incredible worldbuilding that complements a fascinating human-android detective plot, keeping viewers engaged throughout its 85-minute runtime. The story constantly moves forward with twists and turns, rarely stalling. Several scenes feature lengthy conversations dense with information, but none you’d want to miss.

The film combines elements of I, ROBOT and BLADE RUNNER 2049, but it gracefully carves out its own unique identity. I particularly love the scene where they were chased by a relentless, augmented human killer with a blade, eerily reminiscent of the unstoppable T-1000 from TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. Was this an intentional homage?

MARS EXPRESS is definitely one of the best animated features I’ve seen in recent years. It has a dark and captivating ending that will leave you surprised. It’s a film you don’t want to miss.

MARS EXPRESS premiered at Festival de Cannes on 23 May 2023. The film was theatrically released in France on 22 November. It was also theatrically released in the United States on 3 May 2024 with original French soundtrack and English dub.