Avalon
A solitary battle-simulation champion enters a dangerous search for Avalon’s hidden level, where the boundary between game and reality grows unstable.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- austere
- paranoid
- eerie
- late night science fiction viewing
- cyberpunk double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film’s striking cyberpunk imagery, philosophical ambition, and unusual virtual-reality premise, while finding its deliberate storytelling demanding.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Young people compulsively enter the illegal battle simulation Avalon despite its potentially lethal consequences.
Ash pursues rumors of a more advanced Avalon level and searches for its gateway with an exploration gang.
The film combines a dystopian future, telepresence, illegal gaming, and metaphysical uncertainty in Mamoru Oshii’s science fiction tradition.
Avalon is built around combat-game scenarios and a stark dystopian visual atmosphere associated with the film’s speculative world.
Films like Avalon, and why
The Matrix
shared cyberpunk dystopia, simulated realities, and anxiety about technology-mediated identity
eXistenZ
shared immersive virtual worlds, technological alienation, and philosophically charged science fiction
Ghost in the Shell
shared austere dystopian atmosphere, cybernetic warfare, and metaphysical questions about reality
The Thirteenth Floor
shared game-like virtual environments, obsession, and bleak speculative futurism
Movie Details
- Director
- Mamoru Oshii
- Release Date
- 2001-01-20
- Runtime
- 107 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (361)
Cast
- Małgorzata Foremniak
- Władysław Kowalski
- Jerzy Gudejko
- Dariusz Biskupski
- Bartłomiej Świderski
- Katarzyna Bargiełowska
- Alicja Sapryk
- Zuzanna Kasz
- Adam Szyszkowski
- Marek Stawinski
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Google Play Movies
- Buy
- Google Play Movies
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Avalon about?
- A solitary battle-simulation champion enters a dangerous search for Avalon’s hidden level, where the boundary between game and reality grows unstable.
- What is Avalon like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Avalon as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Avalon violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Avalon as graphic.
- What did critics think of Avalon?
- Critics broadly praised the film’s striking cyberpunk imagery, philosophical ambition, and unusual virtual-reality premise, while finding its deliberate storytelling demanding.
- Which films are like Avalon?
- Films with a similar feel include The Matrix, eXistenZ, Ghost in the Shell, and The Thirteenth Floor.
- How long is Avalon?
- Avalon runs 107 minutes.
- Where can I watch Avalon?
- In United States, Avalon is available to rent or buy from Google Play Movies.
