Review | Venice 2025: Scarlet movie review – Mamoru Hosoda’s Hamlet-inspired anime is a curiosity
Fans of Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda’s earlier works are likely to appreciate this animated fable, but others may find it a bit of a trial
3/5 stars
The story largely takes place in an “Otherworld”, a purgatory of sorts where the past and future are interwoven and Eternity is just a staircase away.
It is here where we find the flame-haired Scarlet (voiced by Mana Ashida), who has arrived in this hellscape after being poisoned by her uncle, Claudius. Flashbacks to the late 16th century show this power-grabbing relative also framed and executed her father, the king.
“This is not the afterlife we imagined,” she muses to herself, convinced she is not even dead and fuelled by a burning desire to avenge her father’s killing.
During her travels, she meets Hijiri (Masaki Okada), a male nurse from our present, who similarly has no conception that he has passed into this Otherworld.