{"id":14350,"date":"2026-06-03T18:06:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=14350"},"modified":"2026-06-03T18:06:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:06:30","slug":"did-stop-that-train-use-ai-social-media-is-suspicious-and-the-directors-comments-arent-helping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/?p=14350","title":{"rendered":"Did \u2018Stop! That! Train!\u2019 use AI? Social media is suspicious\u2014and the director\u2019s comments aren\u2019t helping"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By all accounts, the new RuPaul Charles-led movie Stop! That! Train! <\/em>is meant to be nothing more than a stupid good time.<\/p>\n

The movie from Hairspray <\/em>director Adam Shankman is a spiritual successor to disaster comedies like Airplane!<\/em>, just with the queerness turned up to 11. Drag icon Charles stars as President Judy Gagwell, who\u2019s tasked with stopping a runaway train\u2014the Glamazonian Express\u2014that’s headed straight for a deadly \u201cStormaganza.\u201d The movie stars several RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em> alumni, and early reviews say that Stop! That! Train!<\/em> features the same camp comedy the reality show is known for.<\/p>\n

But among those pre-release reviews, some viewers couldn\u2019t help but call out what they said looked like the use of AI-generated footage in the film. On film review platform Letterboxd, a user named Gloria Cook left a particularly scathing review<\/a> that\u2019s since gone viral.<\/p>\n

Cook didn\u2019t love Stop! That! Train!<\/em>\u2019s comedy\u2014but more offensive, she wrote, was what looked to her like shots obviously created with generative AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the film wasn’t bad enough on its own, it’s one of the most conspicuous uses of AI I’ve seen in a film, with a lot of VFX looking like gen AI and doubt about how much of the obvious stock footage might also be,\u201d Cook wrote.<\/p>\n

She added that in the film\u2019s credits, Acme AI & FX, a visual effects studio that \u201cfuses proprietary machine learning with cinematic artistry,\u201d per its website<\/a>, is listed as having worked on the film. That\u2019s corroborated by a recent article on Acme from the Village Voice<\/em><\/a>, which says the studio served as \u201cVFX and AI partner\u201d on Stop! That! Train!<\/em><\/p>\n

Cook wasn\u2019t alone in her allegations, with other Letterboxd users<\/a> writing that they\u2019re \u201cfully convinced that RuPaul invented something called GAY I\u201d and asking, \u201cWhy is there AI slop in my 2-hour Drag Race <\/em>comedy challenge?\u201d<\/p>\n

‘This is patently not true’: Shankman responds<\/h2>\n

Ahead of Stop! That! Train!<\/em>\u2019s wide release on June 12, director Shankman issued a statement across social media<\/a> aiming to shut down the discourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery shot in Stop! That! Train!<\/em> was made by human hands!\u201d Shankman wrote. \u201cIt’s come to my attention that there is some online speculation that Stop! That! Train! <\/em>is full of fully generative AI shots and I’m here to tell you this is patently not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a sum total of ZERO shots conceived by AI in the movie,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe employed hundreds of VFX artists who all killed themselves getting this out for release and not one job was taken out of human hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Stop! That! Train! (@stopthattrainmovie)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Though Shankman didn\u2019t address Acme AI & FX\u2019s involvement in the film, a source familiar with Stop! That! Train!<\/em>\u2019s production told Variety<\/em><\/a> that the studio only contributed visual effects work to the film, with any AI use relegated to background workflow processes and not shown on-screen in the final product.<\/p>\n

‘I see your careful word choice’: Social media not satisfied<\/h2>\n

Despite Shankman\u2019s assurances, social media remains unconvinced that the movie is AI-free. Many users called out the statement\u2019s phrasing, which is vague enough to leave room for AI usage within the film, even if it doesn\u2019t contain any shots \u201cconceived by AI\u201d as Shankman wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw this movie and know it\u2019s not true,\u201d one user wrote<\/a> in response to Shankman\u2019s statement. \u201cThere\u2019s some shots in this that straight up look like Sora. I keep thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNotice the wording of ‘fully generative AI shots’, which directly swerves whether shots simply contain genAI with a strawman,\u201d wrote another user<\/a>. \u201cThis is a very intentional ploy because they’re scared of losing your revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018ZERO shots conceived\u2019 is not \u2018ZERO shots created,\u2019\u201d pointed out a third<\/a>. \u201cI see your careful word choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

But some users sided with Shankman, like one user who argued that AI \u201cis part of normal production workflows.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany tools in programs like Adobe Premiere may be technically considered AI, but it\u2019s nothing like using Sora or whatever to AI generate content,\u201d they wrote<\/a>. \u201cSounds like it\u2019s human made, assisted with digital tools, just like any other modern film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another early viewer of the movie wrote that<\/a> \u201cit just looks like bad CGI,\u201d not AI-generated footage as other reviewers claimed.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Cook, the viewer who spearheaded the conversation, returned to social media<\/a> claiming to have further evidence of AI use in the film. Looking at shots from Stop! That! Train!<\/em>\u2019s trailer, she pointed out that the train\u2019s design varies from shot to shot in a way inconsistent with traditional CGI methods.<\/p>\n

Though Cook conceded that she \u201ccan\u2019t say for sure that Stop! That! Train! <\/em>is using genAI,\u201d she added that the issue hits close to home for her as a queer VFX artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike many other queer artists, I\u2019m currently out of work and struggling to pay my bills,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe need to take a stand against genAI as a cost cutting measure and hold queer creators to that same standard.\u201d<\/p>\n