"Anna" (2019) and "Ava" (2020) are two completely unrelated films that just happen to follow almost the exact same plot and also happen to be titled after their protagonists, whose names both happen to start with A and are palindromes (they read the same both backward and forward). 

I won't insult you by saying this is a coincidence, but it's not really intentional, either.

I can't explain the name thing, to be honest (it's like they're trying to be confusing), but the similarity of the plots puts them into a very successful genre that reaches back decades. 

Both films are about beautiful female assassins who are forced into the job by their circumstances and are eventually hunted by their own people. That description also matches such hits as "Black Widow" (2021), "Colombiana" (2011) and the godmother of this subgenre, "Nikita" (1990). 

The release of "Ava" in 2020, with its star-studded cast, including John Malkovich ("RED," 2010), Geena Davis ("Thelma & Louise," 1991) and Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty," 2012) in the title role, led to a number of pop culture think-pieces about why this story is so frequently told on the big screen and whether Hollywood should give it a break. 

They all reach roughly the same conclusion: The films are rarely very good, but they're always popular, so they'll likely continue. 

We can only hope they won't call the next one "Ada."

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