S'pore sci-fi movie made with AI to premiere on Aug. 9, creator responds to 'AI slop' criticism

"Trace Project", an AI-generated sci-fi feature film, will premiere on Aug. 9, 2026.

This is the movie’s only scheduled public screening in Singapore.

It will be screened at Golden Village Cinema Hall 4 at VivoCity at 2pm.

A trailer of the film:

Hype?

According to Golden Village’s website, the movie’s run time is a mere 64 minutes.

As of writing, more than half of the seats in the cinema appear to be occupied.

The movie’s synopsis is as follows:

“In the late 2030s, as Earth's ecosystem continues to collapse, humanity launches the Mars Footprints Program, sending astronauts from every nation to establish a new civilization on Mars. Lin Jia Jun, an ordinary young man raised in Singapore's public housing, becomes the country's first astronaut to set foot on Mars. Through a cognitive brain-link, he shares every emotion in real time with his companion, Chen Hui Min, who remains on Earth. As the mission unfolds, Lin discovers that Mars is far from the promised land—it is a brutal test of resources, survival, and human nature. Meanwhile, Hui Min quietly watches over him from Earth. As ideals collide with reality and national duty conflicts with the longing to return home, Lin must confront one ultimate question: Is humanity's future found in escaping Earth, or in learning to protect the home we already have?”

Novel

Pax Chen, the founder and CEO of FizzDragon, the production company behind "Trace Project", told Mothership that the concept of the film began from a novel she “personally” wrote.

Drawing from her academic background in electrical engineering, which she studied at the National University of Singapore (NUS), she said she “always had a strong interest in space, aerospace and scientific research”.

“At one point in my life, I wanted to pursue aerospace engineering and scientific research myself,” she said.

Chen later began writing science fiction.

“I realised that the story was not really about space. It was about ambition, possibility and the distance between the future we imagine and the reality we live in,” she said.

Referring to the movie’s protagonist, who dreams of becoming an astronaut, she said this “represents something larger” and has parallels with Singapore.

“Singapore is a small country, but it has always had a remarkable ability to think beyond its physical limitations. Much of Singapore's history is about taking something that initially seemed unlikely and asking whether it could become possible,” she added.

The protagonist's dreams then became the “emotional foundation” of the "Trace Project" plot, Chen added.

National Day premiere

According to Chen, the movie’s premiere on National Day was a suggestion from a senior figure at the Singapore Film Society.

“We felt that National Day was an appropriate moment to present a fictional perspective on Singapore's future,” she said.

Chen said many stories about Singapore revolved around its history.

However, the production team wanted to explore a different “frontier” with its plotline centring around the planet Mars.

“Mars is not simply a destination in the story. It represents the next frontier, and, metaphorically, the willingness to imagine a future that does not exist yet,” she said.

Production

The production of the film was also “part of the story itself”, Chen said.

FizzDragon’s previous feature film, "Pirate Queen: Zheng Yi Sao", involved a team of more than 130 creators from 13 countries.

However, for "Trace Project", FizzDragon worked with a smaller team of about 10 people across three countries.

The move was made to enable a “global creator ecosystem”, where writers, artists, filmmakers and creators from different countries could develop their own intellectual property and use AI as part of the creative process, she said.

“It is also a real-world experiment about whether a small team, using a new generation of creative technology, can reach beyond the limitations that traditionally determine what stories get made,” Chen said.

“That is why the film is particularly meaningful to me,” she added.

AI slop?

During its marketing phase, the movie has received negative comments online, with some labelling it as “AI slop” and criticising the local film industry.

Addressing the criticism, Chen said “every new product inevitably faces criticism”.

“It is measured against the yardsticks of the old,” she added.

Drawing from an analogy on the development of the automobile being initially “slower than horse-drawn carriages”, she argued that AI offered greater opportunities and “freed the coachman's hands”.

“Those who dismiss AI as ‘slop’ might do well to look at the scale of the AI creative economy worldwide today, the jobs it has generated and the opportunities it has unlocked,” she said.

Chen further argued that AI has the potential to reshape society just like the automobile.

“People began to learn, to engage with different cultures, roads were paved for cars, and trade flourished. All of this began with the automobile,” she said.

“That is precisely why FizzDragon is building the next-generation infrastructure for creators, not fortifying stables, coachmen, or those who simply love riding horses,” Chen added.

Availability

Following the movie’s premiere, the film will be available on the FizzDragon App, which is available on the App Store.

Audiences can discover other original content created using FizzDragon systems.

The production company is also working on the film's international distribution.

Distribution has been confirmed across platforms and markets in countries, such as Malaysia and the United States, FizzDragon said in response to media queries.

Further international releases will follow.

“For us, "Trace Project" is therefore not simply a one-night National Day film screening. It is the first step in taking a Singapore-originated, AI-generated story from a local audience to a global audience,” Chen said.