AI Film 'Hell Grind' premieres at Cannes Film Festival 2026
Cannes, May 22
A movie titled 'Hell Grind' made entirely using artificial intelligence, premiered at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, reported Page Six.
According to the outlet, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, the 95-minute flick took a team of 15 just weeks to create and cost 500,000 and 400,000 USD, of which went toward computer costs.
San Francisco startup Higgsfield AI has billed their science-fiction experiment as "the world's first ever AI feature film," and even dropped a trailer for it on Wednesday.
As per the trailer, the movie is a full package of violent fantasy action scenes and carries a gods and monsters plot.
The video began with the narrator saying, "Long before humans walked the earth, there was a war between angels and demons." The clip was full of intense action scenes, which at times appeared robotic yet real.
According to the logline of the movie, the film is set around "Four kids with nothing to lose crack open an artefact they were never meant to touch. What comes out changes them, hunts them, and pulls them straight to hell."
According to Higgsfield, "the film is co-written with two-time Cannes Official Programme filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov and included a production team of 15 professional directors, DPs, and editors who generated over 16,000 video clips to produce 253 final shots for the first episode alone."
The trailer was shared by the software company on its YouTube channel.
Adil Alimhjanov called it a long and creative process of filmmaking, saying, "You can't go into AI and say, 'Make me a 95-minute cool video,' " as quoted by Variety.
According to the outlet, the final product was screened at the prestigious French festival, which has never shied away from controversy, to showcase the company's impressive technology.
AI has been a hot topic in Hollywood and at Cannes. The nearly four-month SAG-AFTRA strike that ground the industry to a halt in 2023 was staged in part because of concerns over its use. But this year, festival attendees have shown more openness to it.
Earlier, the Hollywood actor Demi Moore chimed in on the ongoing debate surrounding the arrival of artificial intelligence in the film industry.
Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival press conference on Tuesday, the actor emphasised that Hollywood will have to find ways to work with AI, as per Variety.
"I think the reality is that to resist -- I always feel that against-ness breeds against-ness. AI is here. And so to fight it is to fight something that is a battle that we will lose. So to find ways in which we can work with it, I think, is a more valuable path to take," Moore said as quoted by Variety, on being asked about how AI has been impacting the movie business and if there should be more regulations.
'The Substance' star further explained that there are many beautiful aspects to using AI; however, they maintained that it can never replace the human experience or touch.
"The truth is, there really isn't anything to fear because what it can never replace is what true art comes from, which is not the physical; it comes from the soul. It comes from the spirit of each and every one of us sitting here, to each and every one of us who creates every day. And that they can never recreate through something that is technical," Demi Moore as quoted by Variety.
The Cannes Film Festival is set to conclude on May 23.
— ANI
Reader Comments
A 95-minute film made by AI in weeks for $500k? That's insane. But the trailer honestly looked like a very well-done video game cutscene rather than a movie. I guess Hollywood is going to have to adapt, but I hope this doesn't mean fewer jobs for actual artists and writers. The strike last year was a wake-up call.
As someone who loves cinema, this feels both exciting and terrifying. AI can generate visuals, but can it capture the raw emotions we feel during a Rajkumar Hirani film or the depth of a Satyajit Ray classic? Probably not. But I do think Indian filmmakers should explore AI for VFX and reducing production costs—just not at the expense of creativity. And that 'gods and monsters' plot sounds like something straight out of our mythology! 😄
$500k budget and only 15 people? That's going to disrupt the industry big time. I'm all for technological progress, but there needs to be regulation. The SAG-AFTRA strike showed that actors and writers are genuinely worried. If a machine can churn out a movie in weeks, what happens to all the aspiring filmmakers who spend years perfecting their craft?
First AI songs, then AI art, and now a full movie at Cannes? Honestly, I'm not surprised. India's own animation and VFX industry should take note. We have such rich stories to tell—imagine an AI-assisted Mahabharata film with stunning visuals! But yes, the human element is irreplaceable. As Demi said, it comes from the soul. Let's use AI as a tool, not a replacement. 🚀
E We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.