One of the more thought-provoking conversations at this year’s Tribeca Festival 2026 centered on HOLO, a film that blends grief, memory, and emerging technology into an intimate emotional drama.
Speaking with BuzzWorthy Radio on the red carpet, stars Morgan Kohan and Shane West explained that despite first impressions, HOLO is not really an “AI movie.”
Kohan clarified that the film’s fictional company uses actors and facial-performance technology rather than generative AI. The distinction, she said, was important because the story is built around preserving human emotion rather than replacing it with something synthetic.
West added that the film also examines the emotional toll on the performers who embody deceased individuals for grieving clients. In other words, HOLO is as much about the living as it is about those who are gone.
That perspective leads to the film’s central question: if you had the chance to reconnect with someone you lost, would you do it?
Both actors admitted they would probably decline.
Kohan said she would struggle with the idea of another person performing as someone she loved, even if the technology was sophisticated. West echoed the sentiment, describing the experience as “too real” and comparing it to humanity’s long history of seeking contact with the dead through rituals, tarot, and spiritual practices.
What makes HOLO compelling is that it does not present an easy answer. Instead, it explores the tension between closure and attachment, memory and imitation, comfort and obsession.
The conversation on the carpet also highlighted why the film resonates beyond its futuristic premise. At its core, HOLO asks deeply human questions: How do we let go? What do we owe the dead? And when does remembrance become something we can no longer control?
As Tribeca continues to spotlight bold independent storytelling, HOLO appears poised to stand out as one of the festival’s more emotionally layered dramas.
Watch the full interview with Morgan Kohan and Shane West above.
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