Avalon

Avalon is a science-fiction action adventure set in a near-future world where an illegal battle simulation has become a dangerous obsession. Ash is one of the game’s most skilled players, and when she hears talk of a deeper level hidden somewhere beyond the familiar fight, she is drawn into a search that pulls her out of isolation. She joins a group of explorers and follows the rumor toward a gateway that may lead to something more extreme than the game she already knows.

The film was made by Mamoru Oshii, who shapes its virtual world with a cool, controlled style. Malgorzata Foremniak plays Ash, carrying the story as a solitary fighter whose curiosity pushes her onward. Wladyslaw Kowalski appears as one of the people drawn into her search, while Jerzy Gudejko is part of the group that moves with her through the game’s shifting spaces. Their roles give the film a tense, purposeful momentum as the hunt for the next level grows more uncertain.

Made in Poland, the United States, Japan and Australia, the film runs 107 minutes and leans into a stark cyberpunk mood. Its world feels sealed off and unstable, with the real and virtual constantly pressing against each other. The tone is tense and detached, with the promise of escape shadowed by the risk of losing the self entirely.