The film that emerged

Cully Hill Boys, which tells the story of three struggling rappers from East London whose lives are turned upside down when they accidentally steal a crime lord's money, is the latest project from the AI filmmaking platform Higgsfield. According to The Verge's review it is one of the few AI movies out this year that comes anywhere near close to looking and feeling like a traditionally produced feature.

The project is codirected by Adilet Abish and Aitore Zholdaskali, who also helmed Higgsfield's Hell Grind feature; according to Higgsfield the pair led a team of nine other directors. It is based on a script initially written by Tim Planagan before it landed on the Black List screenplay submission service for unproduced projects. After acquiring the script's AI production rights, Higgsfield tapped streamer Mikyle "N3on" Rafiq, basketball content creator Matt Kiatipis and UFC fighter Israel Adesanya to star as its leads.

Where the human contribution sits

The review's central argument is that the best parts of the film are undeniably taken from actual human artists. In addition to posting the film online, Higgsfield published many of the prompts used to make it, and several of those prompts mention Edgar Wright and Guy Ritchie by name. The style is therefore not merely visual inspiration but a source invoked by name at the prompt level.

The second contribution comes from the script. Planagan has said he does not use AI tools in his writing process. For The Verge, that is precisely why Cully Hill Boys is a stronger film than Hell Grind: its core narrative was built by a human with an understanding of proper pacing. In the first few minutes the three characters' dynamics and individual troubles are established with a tonal and visual smoothness you seldom see from AI films regardless of their length.

What the technology contributes

Some of that smoothness comes from the tool. Seedance 2.5, used here, is capable of churning out much longer clips than other video generation models: about 30 seconds. With films made using models that only generate a few seconds of footage at a time, you can usually see and hear exactly where clips have been stitched together. There is still some of that in Cully Hill Boys, but many scenes unfold at a pace closer to a traditionally made feature.

Rights and purpose

The project's legal framing is notable too. The main points are:

  • None of the actors shot any scenes on set, but each signed licensing agreements with Higgsfield for their likenesses to be used.
  • While Planagan gave Higgsfield the ability to adapt the story using generative AI, he still retains the rights necessary for it to be produced traditionally.
  • Rather than trying to release the film in theatres, Higgsfield uploaded it and most of its prompts online.

That last choice makes the purpose plain: for Higgsfield, which sells access to various AI models, the film is a showcase for what is possible with its Cinema Studio suite and a large advertisement for its newly added Seedance 2.5 functionality. It also serves as a proposal for how studios might collaborate with digital creators.

The picture that emerges suggests the debate about AI production is more tangled than it appears. The resulting work is not fully automated; script, direction, stylistic reference and faces all come from people. The tool assembles those inputs quickly and cheaply. Judging the film therefore rests less on the tool than on the quality of the human labour behind it.