In the haunting opening of “Murmuray,” a Filipino man in Hawai’i confronts a masked woman under a sacred tree — only to realize she may be his mother. The dreamlike short film looks and feels like traditional indie cinema. The twist? It was created using AI tools. Filmmaker Brad Tangonan produced the film as part of Google’s Flow Sessions, using tools like Gemini, Nano Banana Pro, and Veo to bring his vision to life.

Tangonan insists AI didn’t replace his creativity — it expanded it. He wrote the script himself and carefully guided the visuals to match his signature style. For him, AI is simply another tool, like a camera or editing software. In an era where budgets are shrinking and studios favor safe franchises, AI allowed him to tell a deeply personal story that would otherwise have been financially out of reach.