TCL's AI-generated Next Stop Paris film sure doesn't look like the 'future of storytelling'

Last year, we reported on TCL's Next Stop Paris, an AI-generated romantic comedy that would kick off a string of AI content for its TCLtv+ streaming platform, available on all of the company's Smart TVs. Although it took several months to complete, the "long-anticipated AI-powered love story" premiered last week, and you can watch the entire 11-minute and 44-second film right now.

3

Next Stop Paris is an new AI film from TCL Studios.

"Claire, an overly cautious planner, and Del, a free-spirited dreamer, meet by chance on a train and embark on a spontaneous day in Paris filled with adventure and self-discovery," the synopsis reads. "This whirlwind romance forces them to confront whether their unexpected connection is the work of destiny or a sign of something greater at play."

Yeah, it's not great. The quality of the writing, storytelling, and imagery looks like something from the CD-ROM era of PC gaming when B-movie acting and obvious lo-fi CG sets and backdrops served as the platform for a new style of "interactive movies." Night Trap on the Sega CD add-on for the Genesis or The 7th Guest on PC come to mind.

Check it out.

If you're wondering, "The actual human faces and characters look real!" that's because they are. Written and directed by Stuart Acher (Z Nation on Syfy/Netflix), Next Stop Paris uses real actors in AI environments, as well as AI objects and effects created using Midjourney, Runway ML, Nuke, Adobe After Effects, and "proprietary TCL tools originating from the TCL R&D division."

This is purely subjective, but as a short film, Next Stop Paris might be technically impressive in parts; however, much of it feels off in that AI way. It doesn't help that it's bland, cringe, and dull as a story or movie. Heading in, I was curious and excited to check it out because I assumed it would include AI-generated actors - which looked like the original plan when the first teaser dropped in 2024. Based on the description, the project scope shifted to a more practical approach for writing and acting, with CGI and AI used for everything else.

"The majority of the scenes use hybrid methods, combining practical video shot on professional cameras and a variety of AI applications," TCL explains. "The environments are created using AI, with many of the complex surroundings based on 3D models which are treated with a variety of applications/methodologies, mostly exclusive to TCL."

TCL Studios plans to use what it has learned from Next Stop Paris and AI-enhanced filmmaking tools to create more content for its streaming service. However, if the overall quality of Next Stop Paris is anything to go by (again, this is purely subjective) - we won't miss out on much if this is a one-and-done experiment.