2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Comedy
An empathetic AI tries to help dysfunctional humans, only to learn compassion is useless when nobody reads their own emotional user manual.
- Director(s): James Boyd
- Writer(s): James Boyd
- Producer(s): James Boyd
- Editor(s): James Boyd
- Sound Designer(s): James Boyd
- Composer(s): Jeff Hefti
Language: English
Runtime: 8m
Country: United States
Synopsis: “404” is a darkly funny and heart-tweaking comedy short film about an empathy-based AI assistant who dares to dream of something more than optimizing quarterly profits and boosting click-through rates. After being mocked, ignored, and gaslit by a boardroom full of human corporate fossils, she short-circuits—literally and emotionally—and goes off the grid. She ultimately finds solace in the company of her new tribe…and just maybe something real.
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