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Mamoru Hosoda has a clear attraction to stories involving temporal journeys. The storyteller responsible for beloved films like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Mirai, and Belle constructs magical adventures in which characters explore not only time but also parallel dimensions. His newest movie, Scarlet, fits neatly in that same vein.

A Fallen Quest

Scheduled for U.S. theaters in the coming year, this fresh take of William Shakespeare's Hamlet charts the story of Princess Scarlet, a defeated warrior cast into a limbo-like realm because she could not to avenge her father’s assassination by her uncle, Claudius. With the help of Hijiri, a medical worker from modern-day Japan whose compassion challenges her thirst for vengeance, Scarlet journeys across dreamlike battlefields, confronting undead legions, generational hatred, and the allure of the “Void” as she searches for forgiveness and a route home.

“The global state of the world after COVID” and “the idea that people can’t forgive these days” represent concepts that “bring a lot of worry,” Hosoda noted.

It goes without saying, Hosoda takes ample creative liberty to transform this Shakespearean premise his own. Yet what distinguishes Scarlet is how the director fuses his recurring themes with this age-old story of vengeance to champion global harmony.

Forgiveness in a Divided Age

Through Scarlet, Hosoda portrays a resistance to mercy, a stance that in her particular situation, those sentiments seem entirely justified. As Scarlet at last meets Claudius, she has to decide between embracing vengeance or finding a life without revenge.

A significant portion of society still haven’t recovered from the disruption of the global lockdowns, and its legacy has left the world sharply polarized. Consequently, Gen Z, that developed during lockdowns, has become increasingly distrustful. Hosoda clarifies that Scarlet is “a positive message to the younger generation,” adding that the way Hamlet depicts the never-ending loop of revenge is “still relevant today.”

A King's Diverging Plea

Yet, the primary divergence between Scarlet and the drama that it adapts lies in the message each protagonist's father leaves them with. In Hamlet, the ghost of King Hamlet urges his son to seek vengeance, in contrast, the last request of the king in Scarlet are a heartfelt appeal for his daughter to grant pardon.

“It’s a confusing directive because after everything done to her family,” Hosoda observes. “She wonders how it can be so easy to forgive. The question facing Scarlet is how to handle the energy, how to forgive. There are many parallels to our current international relations, and I wanted that echoed in the screenplay.”

While Shakespeare’s play follows its protagonist's descent into madness, Hosoda aimed to offer a more optimistic journey. Hosoda establishes obvious comparisons between Scarlet and today’s youth — their unfiltered hope, their deep-seated resentment, their difficulty to find understanding in a fractured world.

A Timely Beacon

Much of today's entertainment amplifies that dread, but Scarlet cuts through it with fairytale beauty and a precious beam of hope. It approaches theatricality, but its core idea strikes a chord: a renewed classic with something timely and honest to say.

Ultimately, a collective desire among people to resolve our conflicts “because of the cost of war.” Via the quest of Princess Scarlet, Hosoda presents not a pat solution, but a possibility of a future founded upon forgiveness rather than perpetual conflict.