Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 111 minutes
Release Date: November 21st, 2025 (Japan) / February 6th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Studio Chizu / Toho / Sony Pictures Classics
Director(s): Mamoru Hosoda
Writer(s): Mamoru Hosoda / Mamoru Hosoda (story) / William Shakepeare (inspired by “Hamlet”)

If it doesn’t stop somewhere, the fighting will go on forever.

As a story taken at face-value, Mamoru Hosoda’s Scarlet is extremely naïve. As a parable seeking a path forward for humanity that embraces empathy above power, it excels. The question is whether you’re willing to look past the former to appreciate the latter. No, “willingness” isn’t right. It’s about whether it’s even possible considering the world outside our windows has proven that we can only hope to aspire towards a utopian life if justice does get served.

That’s the rub with sentiments meant to inspire audiences that already know they’re empty. The liberal ideal to not descend to an opponent’s level because grace will teach them to repent. It won’t. It will instead embolden them time to perfect their depravity and ensure their next stint on the throne will never end. Give Hosoda credit for understanding this point, but his fantastical work around isn’t a viable alternative in the real world.

So, take this epic with a grain of salt. I applaud Hosoda’s desire to heal rather than harm, but Claudius probably isn’t the literary figure for that pursuit. How he brings it to life is gorgeous, though. Like if Hamlet were Silvie in “Loki” with Mobius teaching her it’s okay to let go of the angry vengeance in her heart while trying to escape The Void, survive Alioth, and punish those who put her there via stellar animation, brilliant time overlaps, and a prevailing sense of hope.

It’s just unfortunate that the only true way to stop war is to kill those who yearn for it without becoming one of them in the process. In other words: don’t expect the senseless violence to ever go away. As history has shown, when someone does what Scarlet aspires to do, they don’t survive very long. Just look at her dad.

Scarlet had an Oscars-qualifying run on December 12th, 2025.

---

A scene from SCARLET; courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. ©2025 STUDIO CHIZU.