How Ancestra Reveals the Promise and Problems of AI-Generated Films
In 2025, AI-generated films are becoming more common—and more controversial. One of the most talked-about examples is Ancestra, a short film produced by Primordial Soup and created using Google’s powerful generative AI tools. Directed by Eliza McNitt and backed by Darren Aronofsky, the film dives into the emotionally complex story of an expectant mother, blending real actors with surreal, AI-generated visuals. But while the film pushes the boundaries of technology and creativity, it also raises urgent questions: Are AI-generated films truly the future of cinema, or are they the beginning of the end for human-driven storytelling? In this blog, we’ll break down what Ancestra reveals about the current state of AI in filmmaking and what it means for creatives, audiences, and the film industry at large.
The Creative Vision Behind Ancestra and Its Use of Generative AI
At its heart, Ancestra is a deeply personal story inspired by Eliza McNitt’s own birth experience. The film follows a mother-to-be as she pleads for her unborn child’s heart defect to heal. What sets this short apart is not just its emotional depth, but how it visualizes that emotion—using tools like Google’s Gemini, Imagen, and Veo to create immersive, dream-like scenes inside the womb and the mother’s mind. These visuals, often resembling stock footage enhanced by AI, are intended to express subconscious fears and cosmic connections. But even with these advanced AI techniques, Ancestra still relies on human actors, practical sets, and traditional direction, making it a hybrid rather than a fully synthetic creation. This duality showcases both the potential and limitations of AI-generated films today: stunning visuals, but a dependency on human authenticity to make them meaningful.
The Ethical Dilemma: Are AI-Generated Films Threatening Real Filmmakers?
One of the biggest concerns surrounding Ancestra and similar AI-generated films is the potential displacement of creative professionals. If major studios embrace generative AI to cut costs and speed up production, what happens to the screenwriters, VFX artists, cinematographers, and even directors whose skills are slowly being replaced by algorithms and prompts? In interviews, both McNitt and Aronofsky praise the efficiencies of AI tools, but their comments also highlight the uncomfortable trade-offs. AI-generated content can look polished and professional, yet often feels emotionally hollow or derivative—like it was “cooked up in a lab.” For many in Hollywood, this raises a red flag: the increasing normalization of generative AI may create a flood of content that lacks soul, while putting thousands of jobs at risk. As the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA continue to push for stronger protections, Ancestra serves as a timely example of why those safeguards are urgently needed.
What Ancestra Means for the Future of AI-Generated Films
Ancestra may be a short film, but its impact on the conversation about AI in film is massive. It proves that AI-generated films can be artistically ambitious and emotionally resonant—when guided by human hands. At the same time, it underscores the genre’s current pitfalls: visuals that feel too synthetic, narratives that rely on human input to land emotionally, and a creative process that could make traditional artists obsolete if left unchecked. As AI tools like Google Veo and OpenAI’s Sora evolve, the industry must decide how to balance innovation with integrity. Will we embrace AI as a co-pilot to human creativity—or hand over the wheel completely? For now, Ancestra offers a glimpse of what’s possible, and a warning of what could be lost. The future of AI-generated films is still being written, and every viewer, creator, and studio has a role to play in shaping it.
The Value of Human Touch in an AI-Driven World
AI-generated films like Ancestra are undeniably fascinating. They demonstrate what’s technologically achievable when generative AI meets artistic ambition. But they also remind us that great storytelling still depends on human experience, emotion, and intention. As the film industry experiments with this emerging medium, the challenge will be maintaining the soul of cinema while embracing the speed and scale of AI. Viewers should stay informed and critical of how AI is used—not just as a tool for storytelling, but as a force shaping the future of media itself. Whether Ancestra is remembered as a breakthrough or a cautionary tale will depend on how the industry chooses to evolve from here.
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