April and the Extraordinary World

April and the Extraordinary World is set in an alternate 1941 where France never moved past the nineteenth century. Steam and coal still power daily life, and the Napoleonic line continues to rule. For decades, scientists around the world have been vanishing, and inventions that would have transformed the era were never developed. Avril, a young woman, has been on her own since her scientist parents disappeared, leaving her only their talking cat, Darwin. She follows their trail into a wider mystery involving the missing researchers, joined by a streetwise young man named Julius.

The animated film is directed by Franck Ekinci and Christian Desmares, with a screenplay by Benjamin Legrand and Ekinci. It is a Belgian, Canadian and French co-production made for about 10 million dollars. Marion Cotillard voices Avril, with Philippe Katerine as Darwin, Jean Rochefort as Pops, Olivier Gourmet as Paul, Marc-André Grondin as Julius and Bouli Lanners as Pizoni.

The film runs 106 minutes and blends adventure, comedy, family and science fiction. Its ratings sit in similar territory with different audiences: 7.6 out of 10 from 59 film critics, and 7.1 out of 10 on TMDB from 366 votes.