Let Them Dream Cake
A hallucinatory dreamscape
Directed by Kristyna Archer
words by Katie Huelin
Kristyna Archer’s latest AI-infused short, takes us into an opulent tea party where beauty becomes both feast and fever dream. Guests eat edible florals and sugar-dusted rose petals that dissolve into visions as time folds, cakes grow, and indulgence blurs into delirium.
“It’s those liminal spaces—the in-between worlds—that hold the most power and the greatest tension for the viewer.” - Kristyna Archer
Drawing from the whimsy of Alice in Wonderland and the decadence of Marie Antoinette, Archer crafts a hallucinatory world where technology and fantasy entwine.
Let Them Dream Cake feels like a decadent fever dream, a feast that borders on fantasy. Can you tell us more about what sparked the initial concept, and how you envisioned translating that sense of indulgent fantasy into film form?
Two films that deeply shaped me as a kid were the original Willy Wonka and the original animated version of Alice in Wonderland. Even as a child, I could sense the darkness beneath their candy-colored worlds—the absurdity, the unease, the eerie undertone hiding inside all that whimsy that left a powerful imprint on me.
While generating the cake-eating sequences, the characters’ movements sometimes slipped into post-apocalyptic, eerie zombie-like mannerisms. I only kept a hint of it, but that tension—the collision between light and dark, innocence and danger—has always fascinated me. I think that’s why, to this day, I’m drawn to stories that exist in that tension.
Joy and happiness often come from a place of shadow. You can’t know light without first moving through darkness; you can’t appreciate joy until you’ve felt fear. My work lives in that in-between—where beauty meets discomfort & distortion, where the viewer’s expectations are challenged, and where the surreal feels just a little too real.
“AI isn’t replacing the artist, it’s expanding the palette.”
Your worldbuilding often sits between hyperreal and surreal. How did you use AI to expand on that language here?
It’s those liminal spaces—the in-between worlds—that hold the most power and the greatest tension for the viewer. Throughout my journey of discovering my style and voice, I’ve realized that when surreality drifts too far, it loses its tether to human connection and meaning. Sure it looks cool, but it depletes the emotion, rendering it meaningless. Threading that needle, finding the balance within hyperrealism of a heightened and stylized reality, is my sweet sauce. It’s where my worldbuilding thrives.
The sound design really pulls us deeper into the powerful dreamscape you create visually. How did you approach sound to heighten that hallucinatory atmosphere?
The sound design and music had to embody the audible distortion of reality that matched hallucinatory tone, so that transitional element into a more submerged reverb muffling the sounds and degrading it in a way with a low-pass filter, those intention distortions is what makes it feel so immersive.
You describe AI filmmaking as “bridging the tactile beauty of live-action with the boundless possibilities of AI.” How do you see this approach reshaping the future of visual storytelling?
We’re entering a new cinematic language where imagination has no ceiling and reduces the cost of those big ideas. AI isn’t replacing the artist, it’s expanding the palette. For me, it’s about preserving the humanity of filmmaking—the tone, the craft, the imperfection—while using AI to amplify those big ideas and finally make them possible.
Your work explores the intersection of art, fashion, and technology. How do you see that intersection evolving, and in what ways does Let Them Dream Cake reflect your vision for that future?
They have always been intertwined. The lines between disciplines are dissolving—fashion is now narrative, tech is now muse, and art is the connective tissue. In my film, the styling references embody a couture excess, but the construction is digital hyperrealism. I see the future of art and fashion as performative worldbuilding—less about product, more about a portal. It’s about designing experiences that reflect who we are in this hybrid age: synthetic yet sensual, human yet algorithmic, elegant yet chaotic.
What's next for you?
Continuing to hone and explore the intricacies of AI-infused hybrid production models and workflows, I’m especially passionate about the intersection of AI and LED volume virtual production—how these technologies can merge to expand new dimensions of worldbuilding that are captured in real time in camera.
CREDITS: Director: Kristyna Archer | AI Artist: Kristyna Archer | DP: Carissa Dorson | Gaffer: Alex Chandra | Set Designer: Lee Levy | Wardrobe Stylist: Monica Cargile | Food Stylist: Chantael Yu | Sound Mixer: Joe Mullins | Editor: Kristyna Archer