Eva Green’s Trees Are Watching Draws Criticism for AI Horror Imagery
Eva Green’s Trees Are Watching combines live acting with AI horror imagery, drawing criticism and calls for clearer disclosure after its Toronto debut.
Trees Are Watching, starring Eva Green and executive produced by Martin Scorsese, has drawn criticism over its AI-generated imagery following its Toronto International Film Festival premiere. The psychological horror combines live-action performances with generated visuals, which have become a focus of the film’s early reception.
Reports from the premiere describe AI imagery appearing in landscapes, transitions and flashbacks exploring the film’s supernatural mythology. The criticism centers on the visual quality of those sequences and how they fit alongside the actors’ performances, rather than simply the presence of digital effects.
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Written and directed by Bahman Ghobadi, the film follows Darya, a novelist who returns to Mardin in southeastern Turkey with her deaf daughter. Memories of twin sisters from her childhood resurface, while a sinister presence takes the form of a wooden chair made from local timber.
Its premise draws on Kurdish folklore about people being reborn as trees, with another existence continuing through furniture made from their wood. For Darya, that connection turns an ordinary household object into something threatening and ties the haunting to her own past.
The reaction has also prompted discussion among festivalgoers about disclosure. In public posts following the screening, some questioned whether festivals should flag substantial generative AI use before audiences purchase tickets, bringing the debate beyond the appearance of the finished effects.
Trees Are Watching therefore raises a specific question for audiences: how much should they be told about the generated material within a live-action film? Alongside criticism of the visuals themselves, that demand for clearer information has become part of the response to its festival debut.
