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Scores & Rankings
Nexus: Mark Of The Veil – Episode 1 Directed by Kamino Films
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Score breakdown
- Storytelling & Structure ×210
- Emotional Connection ×28
- AI Tool Management ×210
- Visual Craft10
- Screenplay9
- Sound Design10
- Originality10
- Technical Polish10
- Rewatch Value10
×2 = core category, counts double.
Directed by Kamino Films • Runtime 9:17
Film Review
Written by Kineograph
A blood-soaked young warrior raises a rune-lit blade as titanic winged gods clash over a stormlit living city.
When I review a film that does not have a conclusive ending, one that ends on a cliffhanger or serves as a preview to a feature, I do not review it in the same way as films with a complete ending. Nexus is part of a wider world that will continue to be told in multiple parts, and this is the first. Even so, the production and quality of this chapter earn it recognition on our list: Best Scene, Best Score, Best Cinematography, Originality, and I would definitely place it in Best Costume.
Synopsis
Yuiki is a fugitive marked by the Veil. When she steps in to protect a hunted boy in Sky City, a mysterious relic fuses to her hand and sets off a chain of events that leads her to a sealed path, and to Nexus, an ancient celestial warrior imprisoned for eons. His awakening reignites a forgotten conflict and reveals that Yuiki’s mark connects powers, and worlds, far older than she realizes.
The story explores sacrifice, identity, protection, and the consequences of extraordinary power. It is photorealistic celestial dark fantasy, with monumental white-and-gold architecture, ancient black-and-gold relics, crimson skies, and a restrained copper-gold Veil energy.
The Review
A World You Want to Visit
The film opens with a wide shot of Sky City, and it is a beautiful sight: tall white-and-gold towers rising in the distance. It is a place that feels lived in, and that sense of place carries through the whole film. When Yuiki is chased through the city, the scene does two things at once. It is full of adrenaline, and it also introduces us to the city itself. The locations are so interesting that I would like to go there on holiday.
That is a credit to how the film is built. The director designed each location as a physically navigable space, with a clear foreground, midground, and background, consistent landmarks, and natural depth. You can feel the geography. When a bridge breaks apart, we understand exactly what was lost.
A Lead With Presence
Yuiki has a quality that makes her easy to follow. She is soft, but with a look that says don’t mess with me, or else. We see it in the first scene. She gives a young boy an apple, and when two guards arrest him, she steps in and tells them to leave him alone. When a guard warns her, “You had your warning,” she answers, “So did you.” It is a small exchange that tells us everything about her.
The turn comes when a relic drops and her hand lands on it. It lights up and fuses with her skin. A leather strap wraps around her arm, and golden symbols appear beneath her arm and hand. When a guard comes at her from behind, a wave bursts from her palm and throws the guard to the ground. It is a clean, exciting introduction to her power, and it sets up the rule the film will keep: this mark is not under her control.
The Chase and the Fall
The chase scene (1:24–2:41) is where the film shows its confidence. The guards deploy winged, drone-like machines called pursuers, and they hunt Yuiki and the boy across the city. As the pair cross a bridge, a pursuer hits it with a beam and half of it collapses. The guards take the boy, and Yuiki falls.
The next ten seconds (2:42–2:50) are quietly perfect. Yuiki falls in slow motion into an abyss, stabilizes herself with her hand to avoid hitting the ground, and lands gently inside a beautiful chamber with arched ceilings. It is a short, graceful moment, and it works because the film trusts the image.
Seraphenn and the Mythology
In the chamber, Yuiki meets Seraphenn, a woman with long white hair who seems to know a great deal. Yuiki asks her to send her back to save the boy, and the answer is the film’s first great line: the Veil does not lead backwards. When Yuiki asks where it leads, she is told: to the one they buried.
Seraphenn also gives Yuiki the film’s key lesson. The Veil does not obey her, she explains, because it responds to her fear. The answer is not control but intention: give it one purpose. Yuiki immediately says she is bringing the boy back, a beam of light bursts from her hand, and a door opens. It is a clever scene, because the magic system is explained through character growth and not exposition.
Costume and Design
The costume work is outstanding, and it is one of the reasons I would put this film in Best Costume. Seraphenn’s dress is beautiful, and it looks amazing in motion when she runs. The Warden Hunters, flying creatures with metallic wings, are striking designs. And when Nexus is fused with his sword, Vexa, and gains a pair of black feathered wings, the look is unforgettable. Every character reads instantly by silhouette, which is exactly what costume and creature design should do in a fantasy world.
The Choreography
This is where the film truly shines, and I want to break it down properly, because the choreography is amazing.
Yuiki versus the guardian (5:48–6:08). After Seraphenn is killed by a Warden Hunter and urges Yuiki to unlock the first ward and run, Yuiki reaches a great hall and is attacked by a huge creature. She raises a golden shield, but he is stronger. It is a beautifully choreographed fight, and it shows her vulnerability: she is not yet a master of what she carries.
Nexus awakens (6:35–6:51). The coffin explodes, rock flies in every direction, and Nexus emerges with a red sword, cuts the creature’s arm, and takes its heart. The flying debris is gorgeous.
The sky battle (7:22–9:03). This is the scene that earns the film its place in our Best Scene category, and it is pure perfection. It is almost two minutes of non-stop, beautifully choreographed fighting in the sky among cathedral-like structures with pointed towers. It looks beautiful, it works, and it feels real. At 7:49, as Nexus flies, he does something that makes the Warden Hunters explode, and all we see is red in the distance. It is a perfect shot. Then the leader of the Hunters, who we learn is the one who locked Nexus in the coffin, fights him, and summons a creature larger than the city itself. Nexus calls on Vexa to initiate alpha and omega, a rift opens in the sky, and he becomes a colossal four-winged creature. Then: To be continued.
I can only imagine what it took to make that scene. I probably would have burned the house down if I had been the one doing it. And this was all done by one person.
Notes to Help Improve the Next Chapter
Because the first chapter sets such a high standard, I want to share a few observations that I hope are useful for what comes next. They are offered with admiration, and only because the rest of the film feels so close to real people on screen.
- Eye lines in conversation. In the scene at 3:39–4:14, Seraphenn glances at Yuiki once and then stares straight ahead while she continues speaking. It reads as a robotic pose and broke the illusion for me. I noticed the same issue in the Part 2 preview, where the captain speaks to Nexus while looking straight ahead instead of at him. I have seen other films in this festival handle these interactions naturally, so it can be done. It just needs a little more work to get there.
- Nexus’s emergence (6:35–6:51). The debris is beautiful, but Nexus does not move the way a person would. It felt like the model was having difficulty translating the action into natural movement. Because this is the character’s big entrance, it is the moment where natural movement matters most.
- Voices. Seraphenn’s voice sounded just like the lead character of another film in this festival, Hi Alwa, and it pulled me out of the story. After watching so many films, I have come to believe that some generation tools reuse the same voices and music. Since the director already used ElevenLabs to adjust one voice scene, giving each major character a distinct voice could help the world feel even more unique.
- Keep the standard consistent. The sky choreography was out of this world. That is what makes the weaker moments stand out, and the next section is where it shows most.
The Part 2 Preview
I just watched the preview for Part 2, and I must say I am hooked on this story. It looks amazing. Nexus now has a white-haired look that is very cool. Yuiki is wielding Vexa, the talking sword. We see new faces and huge monsters, and it is all very exciting.
I do want to be firm about one thing, and I am being tougher here only because Part 1 set the bar so high. The alligator fight in the preview looks lower in quality than what we are used to from this IP. After the choreography of the sky battle, which earned a place in our Best Scene category, going to that is not what this director has spoiled us with. Even though it is only a test of what is coming, I hope that scene is redone or cut entirely. A lower standard will not do for a world that has already shown what it can be. And, as noted above, the eyes of the captain in the preview have the same wandering issue.
A Story Worth Following
The film reminded me of the web novel Shadow Slave, which I am reading and am up to chapter 1,400. That is high praise: it means this film has already sold us something great, and so we expect the same high standards going forward. No less.
Final Thoughts
Judged as the first chapter of a larger saga, Nexus: Mark of the Veil is extraordinary: a stunning world, a charismatic lead, a rich mythology, and a sky battle that is among the best action sequences in the festival. It has real flaws in eye lines, movement, and voice variety, but these are the kind that can be fixed, and they are small next to what it achieves.
It was made by one person, using his own money, with his daughters as his biggest fans. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as they do. I want more, and more, and more.
Scene Breakdown
0:00–1:24 — A wide shot of Sky City and its high towers. Yuiki walks through what appears to be a market and gives a young boy an apple. Two guards, an older man and a woman, apprehend the boy, who appears to have pickpocketed a Veil sigil. Yuiki tells them to leave him alone. The male guard orders the female guard to cuff her while he deals with the boy. “You had your warning.” “So did you.” In the commotion, the guard drops the relic, Yuiki’s hand lands on it, and it lights up and fuses with her. A strap wraps her arm, golden symbols appear, and a wave from her hand throws the female guard to the ground.
1:24–2:41 — Yuiki and the boy are chased across the city by pursuers, winged drone-like machines. A pursuer beams a bridge, half of it falls, the guards take the boy, and Yuiki falls.
2:42–2:50 — Yuiki falls in slow motion into the abyss, stabilizes herself with her hand, and lands in a chamber with arched ceilings.
2:51–3:38 — In the chamber, Yuiki meets a woman with long white hair, later named Seraphenn. She learns the Veil does not lead backwards, that it leads to “the one they buried,” and that it responds to fear and needs a single intention. Yuiki declares she is bringing the boy back, a light beam opens a door, and they walk through.
3:39–4:14 — Guards lead the boy across a stone bridge between towers, with clouds on either side. A pole lights up and a guard says a Veil gate has opened. The boy says, “I told you she would come.” Yuiki hears it. Seraphenn explains that the Veil recognizes its own, that the boy belongs to this place, “not all of him,” and that it can find him but not free him.
4:15–4:25 — Walking down a hallway, Seraphenn explains that the boy is mortal, but Nexus left an echo of himself inside him. The echo did not know, but it knew how to find Yuiki. The guards will break him to find Nexus. Yuiki says they will find him first.
4:26–4:40 — The boy is scanned for the Veil. None is found, but something useful is detected, so they keep him alive for now.
4:41–5:07 — Back at the bridge, Warden Hunters appear: flying creatures with metallic wings. The boy takes what may be a key from a distracted guard.
5:08–5:47 — A Warden Hunter chases Yuiki and Seraphenn through halls and destroys doors. Seraphenn is killed, telling Yuiki to unlock the first ward and run.
5:48–6:08 — In a beautiful hall, Yuiki is attacked by a huge creature. She uses a golden shield but he is stronger. A well-choreographed fight.
6:09–6:34 — The boy places the key in a stone box that looks like a coffin. It announces “Echo confirmed, initiating fusion,” red light fills the room, and the boy disappears.
6:35–6:51 — Yuiki asks for help. A voice says “releasing third seal.” Nexus says “That’s enough,” the coffin explodes, and he emerges with a red sword, cuts the creature’s arm, and takes its heart.
6:52–7:16 — Yuiki asks if he is the boy. He asks where Seraphenn is and is told the Hunters killed her. He sends Yuiki away for her own good and says, “Vexa, let’s go all out for our friends.”
7:17–7:21 — Vexa activates fight fusion, and Nexus gains black feathered wings and flies away.
7:22–9:03 — Nexus fights the flying Warden Hunters among cathedral-like structures. At 7:49 he destroys several Hunters in one shot. The Hunter leader, who locked him in the coffin, fights him and summons a creature larger than the city. Nexus orders alpha and omega, a rift opens in the sky, and he becomes a colossal four-winged creature. To be continued. Best Scene.
Production tools: ChatGPT and GPT-IMAGE 2 for character and world development; Seedance 2.5 through Higgsfield for cinematic footage, dialogue, and performances; Suno for background music; ElevenLabs for one voice scene; Wondershare Filmora for assembly and mix; Topaz Video AI for upscaling from 720p to 4K. Original concept, writing, direction, prompting, editing, and sound design by Kamino Films, solo.