This Is Not How You Start a Trilogy: “Hope” Gets a Nope From Me
Despite it being one of the most visually impressive action movies I’ve ever seen, everything else fell short of my expectations.

Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's adaptation of a manga by Shotaro Ishinomori was an official selection at the 5th Shanghai International Film Festival and won the award for Best Screenplay at the 14th Tokyo International Film Festival.
Despite it being one of the most visually impressive action movies I’ve ever seen, everything else fell short of my expectations.
Netflix’s new mystery thriller, The Marked Woman (released originally as La Desconocida), is confusing. More critically, though, it commits the worst mistake a movie can make: it’s boring. From Spanish director Gabe Ibáñez, the film squanders its premise at every turn, fills the story with unlikeable characters, and lacks emotional payoff.
The genres of science fiction and fantasy are not exclusively masculine territory. Over the last few decades, female directors have brought to the screen some of the most visually stunning, intellectually daring, and deeply moving works of speculative fiction. From big Hollywood productions like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel to independent low-budget films, women filmmakers are making a name for themselves around the world.
This short film was an overall creative success.
That gut-wrenching feeling you have while watching it is okay but needed, and you, the viewer, will be okay.
Cartoon Saloon is an animation studio that should be appreciated more. They tell unique stories with unique animation, proving that 2D animation is still alive and well.