I saw a $500,000 sci-fi movie with AI actors. It made me feel something real for a moment.

For a brief moment toward the middle of the AI-generated film “Hell Grind,” I experienced something unexpected: real emotion.

When the male lead Roco looked at a photo of his recently kidnapped lover, memories of the two of them growing up together in an orphanage came to mind. The sadness and longing felt real.

The sensation didn’t last.

In the middle of the flashback, Roco and his AI-generated co-stars began laughing eerily in sync, their eyes wide. As I sat in New York City’s Metro Private Cinema this week scooping up a handful of popcorn, the uncanny valley of AI came roaring back.