Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over

Director Neill Blomkamp released a 13-minute science fiction short called Nightborne created entirely using a text-to-video AI generator, which he framed as a demonstration of generative AI capabilities. The short, produced by Blomkamp's new AI production company, was created by having AI generate every shot, though human concept artists, editors, and actors contributed to the project. The film's story follows an American pilot who becomes part of a military program that turns injured soldiers into remote-controlled weaponized zombies. According to the reviewer, despite skilled editing and human involvement, the final product exhibits common flaws of AI-generated content including gibberish text in backgrounds and actors delivering lines with unnatural emphasis, leading to widespread backlash and criticism that the project demonstrated limitations rather than promising potential for AI filmmaking.