This AI-Generated Movie Was Made in Just 2 Weeks — And the Budget Is Shocking

An AI-generated movie called Hell Grind is pushing the idea of what a cinema experience looks like. The film was shown at a private screening in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, and the reactions were mixed, with both curiosity and confusion about what they were seeing on screen. The information comes from a report by Variety journalist Tatiana Siegel, who attended the screening.

The movie runs for about 95 minutes and was created by the San Francisco-based AI startup Higgsfield AI. According to the company, it was produced in only two weeks and had a budget of around 500,000 dollars. Most of that cost went into computing power and AI tools, including ByteDance’s Seedance video generation model and Higgsfield’s own system.

What makes the experience unusual is not just the movie itself but the setting. The screening felt like a normal film event. People sat in a theater in reclining seats, ate popcorn, and watched the screen like they would at any traditional movie. But everything on screen, including characters, city environments, music, and even food scenes, was generated by artificial intelligence.

The story of Hell Grind is strange and chaotic. It follows four orphaned criminals led by a character named Roco. They try to carry out a heist, gain unexpected superpowers, and then get pulled into a conflict with a demon that kidnaps one of their friends. The group then travels through different challenges to rescue her. The plot includes portals, magical artifacts, and battles in an underworld setting.

The film was shown during a period of growing attention around AI in entertainment. The screening included journalists, investors, and staff from Higgsfield. The company presented the movie more as a demonstration of technology than as a traditional piece of cinema meant to compete with Hollywood storytelling.

Higgsfield CEO Alex Mashrabov explained the purpose behind the project in an interview. He said, “We have to lean into the areas where the technology is the strongest and see where it fits creator needs.” He added that improvements in genres like comedy and drama are expected soon as the technology develops.

Even though the visuals were often smooth and surprisingly realistic, the film still had clear weaknesses. Some characters did not show strong emotion, and dialogue delivery felt flat at times. According to the report, even the villain in the story had a limited range of expression. Music in the film was also mostly AI-generated, with only a small amount coming from real artists.

Mashrabov also said feedback from early viewers pointed out missing elements that human production usually brings. He noted that voice acting was one of the weakest parts of the project and something that would need improvement in the future.

Despite its flaws, Hell Grind shows how quickly AI filmmaking tools are developing. The company claims that around 15 people and 30 AI agents worked on the project inside its platform. The script was written before production, but most of the visuals and scenes were generated through AI systems.

Higgsfield says its platform already has thousands of users and is growing fast. The company, which reached a valuation of 1.3 billion dollars earlier this year, is also building training programs to teach creators how to use its tools. It sees future use in advertising, post-production work, and faster film creation cycles.

At the end of the film, a sequel is teased, although it is not currently in development. Whether it will be made or not is unclear, but the idea of turning projects around in weeks instead of years is already part of the conversation. According to Variety’s reporting, the film suggests a future where movies could be created much faster, but still raises questions about how “human” those stories will feel.

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