April and the Extraordinary World: directors Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci have an original, intriguing steampunk story at their hands; the film lays down clearly the foundations to the alternative history and then runs with it. The detailed world is designed with that in mind; the animation is simple, for today’s standards, but there are plenty of small details that enrich the images; also worth mentioning that the hand-drawn style matches well with the quaint environment (and the dull colors used for most of it likewise match the story). The story gains points for having a strong female character at its center; the voice acting of Marion Cotillard is very good; some of the others aren’t so spot on, mostly when they lean towards comical relief.