// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Hell Grind say to its date? You're a real grind.
| Hell Grind | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Aitore Zholdaskali |
| Written by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 95 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 |
Hell Grind is a 2026 action fantasy film directed by Aitore Zholdaskali and co-written with Adilkhan Yerzhanov.[1]
The entire film was created by a team of 15 people using generative AI tools from San Francisco-based startup Higgsfield AI. It premiered in May 2026 in Cannes, France, at the same time as the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, albeit not at the festival.[2]
Plot
[edit]The film follows four street thieves. After a botched heist, one of them is transported into an underworld. The others team up with a secret military group and battle demon hordes to save her.[1][3][4]
Production
[edit]Creation of Hell Grind took two weeks and cost US$500,000, with 80% of that going into generative AI compute costs.[5] The 15-person crew, including some of the Higgsfield team, used Higgsfield's Soul Cinema and Soul Cast products, with the Dreamina Seedance 2.0 video generator to generate the film's visuals.[1]
According to Adil Alimzhanov, a content lead at Higgsfield, the core of the production involved generating and re-generating 15 second clips until they were refined enough for use. To maintain shot-to-shot consistency, each prompt had to be long and detailed, containing an average of 3,000 words each, and words and phrases to remind the video generation model to respect laws of physics, specify intended cinematographic choices, and avoiding a telltale "AI sheen".[2][5] Higgsfield CEO, Alex Mashrabov, described some of the video generation process as having "a feeling of a slot machine".[4]
Release
[edit]The film was screened at an industry event hosted in Cannes, France on May 16, 2026.[4] A trailer was released a few days later.[6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Melrose, Robin (2026-05-19). "Meet Hell Grind, The First Feature Film "Created Entirely On The Higgsfield AI Platform"". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- 1 2 Schimkowitz, Matt (2026-05-22). "AI movie hallucinates "Cannes" debut". AV Club. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ McNeely, Kelli Marchman (2026-05-20). "Watch the Trailer for the First All AI Action Fantasy Film, 'Hell Grind'". HorrorFuel.com. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- 1 2 3 Abbatescianni, Davide (2026-05-18). "In pictures: Higgsfield unveils fully AI-generated feature 'Hell Grind' in Cannes". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- 1 2 Bousquette, Isabelle (2026-05-21). "Exclusive | This Cannes Film Cost $500,000 to Make. $400,000 Was AI Compute Costs". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2026-05-23.
- ↑ Aldredge, Jourdan (2026-05-19). "Watch the Trailer for the AI Sci-Fi Heist Feature Film Screening at the Cannes Film Festival | No Film School". No Film School. Retrieved 2026-05-23.