- Atomic7020 juni 2026A gorgeous failure: proof that animation can be visually miraculous and dramatically empty at the same time. Scarlet is the kind of animated film that occasionally makes you stop and think: “Wow, this looks incredible.” And then, almost immediately, it reminds you that a beautiful image is not the same thing as a good movie. There are moments where the visual direction is genuinely breathtaking. When the film trusts its animation, its atmosphere, and its sense of scale, it can be absolutely stunning. Some sequences have a dreamlike quality that proves how powerful animation can be when artists are given room to create something extraordinary. Unfortunately, those moments are painfully rare. The rest of Scarlet feels like watching a collection of ambitious ideas that never bothered to introduce themselves properly. The screenplay is an absolute mess — a story that seems convinced it is profound simply because it is complicated. Themes are thrown around with all the subtlety of a hammer: revenge, violence, trauma, forgiveness, morality. The film wants to say something deep about humanity, but it never builds the emotional foundation required to make those ideas land. The characters are the biggest casualty. They do not feel like people; they feel like vehicles for the movie’s arguments. Relationships appear because the plot needs them, not because the characters actually connect. The emotional bonds that should carry the entire film feel artificial, almost like the script is ordering us to care instead of earning that reaction. And then there is Scarlet herself, a protagonist who is extremely difficult to root for. She spends the film surrounded by messages about rejecting violence and overcoming hatred, yet her own behavior repeatedly undermines those ideas. The movie spends so much time telling us she has grown, learned, and changed — but the actual character development often feels like a shortcut rather than a transformation. She comes across less as a tragic hero and more like a spoiled child with a sword and a very dramatic soundtrack. Speaking of the soundtrack: it is dreadful. The music constantly tries to force emotional responses that the story has not earned. Instead of enhancing the scenes, it often feels like the film is begging the audience: “Please feel something here.” The result is not moving — it is exhausting. The biggest problem is that Scarlet confuses visual ambition with narrative substance. It has the ingredients of a great animated film: striking imagery, big themes, fantasy elements, emotional stakes. But having ingredients does not mean you cooked a good meal. Sometimes it feels like watching a masterpiece trapped inside a completely broken machine. A few scenes are genuinely beautiful. A few images are unforgettable. The rest is an overproduced, incoherent animated spectacle that mistakes noise for meaning.
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Scarlet was released on 21 november 2025.
Scarlet was directed by Mamoru Hosoda.
Scarlet has a runtime of 1h 50m.
Scarlet was produced by Yuichiro Saito, Toshimi Tanio, Nozomu Takahashi.
Efter att ha misslyckats med att hämnas sin fars död och blivit svårt skadad vaknar prinsessan Scarlet upp i en mystisk värld där hon möter en idealistisk ung man från vår egen tid som inte bara hjälper henne att läka utan också visar henne möjligheten till en framtid utan hämnd. När Scarlet återigen ställs inför sin fars mördare, måste hon bestämma sig för om hon kan bryta hatets cirkel och finna en mening i livet bortom hämnden.
The key characters in Scarlet are Scarlet (voice) (Mana Ashida), Hijiri (voice) (Masaki Okada), Cornelius (voice) (Yutaka Matsushige).
Scarlet is rated 11.
Scarlet is a Fantasy, Animerat, Action film.
Scarlet has an audience rating of 8 out of 10.
Scarlet has made 1,7 mn US$ at the box office.