MAR.IA: Trailer Reveals Futuristic, Brutal Sci-Fi Revenge Film

The trailer for “MAR.IA,” which will have its American release on October 14 (its very first premiere was in Spain in October of 2023, and it’s been released in several other countries since), showcases a cyberpunk setting that, admittedly, looks very good.

It’s hard to say what kind of budget the filmmakers were working with, but the footage shown has an almost grainy quality that makes the red-light district-esque setting feel thoroughly grungy. It’s even more effectively seedy than any of the visuals in something like “Blade Runner” – though this classic was an obvious inspiration.

In this cesspool of sleaze and exploitation dwells Maria Black, an adult film star who is shown early on filming a particularly BDSM-heavy skin flick. Soon thereafter, the talk turns to how this supposedly dead young woman is evidently alive and active. That probably has something to do with some hospital nurses’ attempts to jump-start her heart, and with the report that “Her body disappeared from the hospital.”

Seeing as how this is a sci-fi film, you can probably guess the answer to this mystery: Maria Black has been resurrected as a cyborg (MAR.IA, we may presume). But that’s not all. Evidently, she has more than a few scores to settle on account of the abuse she suffered as a full human.

As a cyborg, “MAR.IA” is very formidable: able to cave in a wall with one punch, take a bullet with little more than a jolt, and toss seemingly larger humans around with ease. However, the grimy cyberpunk powers that be (the law? mercenaries? gang kingpins? a combination thereof?) aren’t going to take her killing spree lying down. “When revenge isn’t human,” the tagline proclaims, “justice has no limits.”

A Novel Subgenre Mishmash – But Is the Story Really So New?

The trailer also promises that “MAR.IA” will be “a mix of ‘Terminator‘ and ‘I Spit on Your Grave.'” On its surface, this may sound fresh: certainly, it’s hard to recall many cyborg movies that belong to the notorious rape-revenge subgenre of exploitation horror. But really, aside from its particularly loathsome setup, is a rape-revenge movie really that different in style or content from any old action flick concerning a one-person vengeance squad?

With this in mind, it’s worth bringing up how many previous cyborg movies have employed the premise of a cybernetically reanimated revenge-seeker. Recall “RoboCop,” “Bloodshot,” and, most pertinently, “Steel and Lace,” a little-known 1991 sci-fi flick that proves “MAR.IA” is not in fact the first rape-revenge cyborg tale ever put to film.

Moreover, “MAR.IA” appears derivative of “Blade Runner” in more than just its neo-noir aesthetic: after all, its plot will concern human assassins setting out to terminate a rogue cyborg. Finally, the brief snippets of action shown in the trailer look too generic to compensate for a lack of creativity in the story and world-building departments.

“MAR.IA” doesn’t look like an utter turkey of a film. If you like your action pics dark, grimy, and futuristic and don’t place a whole lot of value on originality, I suspect that it’ll still offer enough action and tension to kill one afternoon of yours with all the blunt, nasty efficiency of its titular avenger. If, however, you prefer sci-fi films built on startling ideas and themes, I can’t say there’s anything in this trailer that’ll sell you on “MAR.IA.”