In an ambitious creative leap, Natasha Lyonne is stepping behind the camera for her feature directorial debut Uncanny Valley—a hybrid live-action and AI-generated film developed in partnership with futurist Jaron Lanier, The OA creator Brit Marling, and the artist-led AI studio Asteria.

The film blends immersive AR, narrative storytelling, and ethical AI to explore a parallel-present world where a teenage girl spirals into disconnection as a viral augmented reality game begins bleeding into her waking life. It’s both a sci-fi thriller and an experiment in how emerging technology might expand—not replace—cinematic language.

Backed by Asteria, a new AI production house co-founded by Lyonne and filmmaker Bryn Mooser, the project will be powered by Marey, a generative AI model developed by Moonvalley that was trained exclusively on copyright-cleared data. Unlike the “black box” AI tools drawing criticism across Hollywood, Marey is built on transparency and consent—designed to serve creators rather than disrupt them.

When Storytellers Lead the Tech

“This project is about people, not just machines,” said Lanier, who has advised on projects like Minority Report and remains one of Silicon Valley’s most humanistic tech voices. “There is a story here about technology, but it is really about people, and the unpredictable thread of connection that joins us across generations, technologies, and divergent weirdness.”

The film is co-written by Lyonne and Marling, both of whom will also star. Zal Batmanglij, Marling’s longtime creative partner, is producing alongside Justin Lacob and Asteria CEO Bryn Mooser. Lyonne’s own Animal Pictures banner is also on board.

While AI has increasingly appeared in postproduction pipelines, Uncanny Valley is one of the first major films to integrate AI directly into the fabric of its world-building—and to do so under the direction of high-profile artists. That distinction is important, according to Mooser.

“When trailblazing artists lead the tech instead of the other way round, revolutionary advancements are possible,” he said.

A New Frontier With Old-School Values

For Lyonne, the project is about protecting the spirit of storytelling while navigating a new era of tools. “AI can enable bigger visions onscreen—but we must also grapple with its myriad complexities surrounding artist’s rights,” she said. “Our goal is to face these head-on and help shape new industry standards and protections.”

That includes advocating for transparency. Lyonne and the Asteria team recently signed an open letter opposing efforts by major AI developers to train models without permission or copyright safeguards—drawing a clear line between ethical experimentation and exploitation.

Marling sees the project as part of a broader movement: “Science fiction can be a powerful tool of resistance—imagining what could be instead of what is. With Asteria, we hope to pioneer ways to use AI that allow filmmakers to tell high-concept stories on budgets that allow for real innovation.”

From Poker Face to the Front Lines of Innovation

Lyonne—currently starring in Poker Face Season 2 and set to appear in Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps—is no stranger to cerebral genre storytelling. Her time-loop series Russian Doll and noir-comedy Poker Face redefined genre norms, and now Uncanny Valley positions her as one of the few actor-directors pushing narrative boundaries with AI not just as a tool, but as a co-architect.

But this isn’t just a one-off indie curiosity. It’s a potential proof-of-concept for how generative AI, if developed transparently and wielded by experienced storytellers, could open new creative terrain for both big-budget and resource-strapped productions.

“This is about turning AI from a threat into a tool,” said Mooser. “We’re not replacing humans. We’re asking what more is possible when human imagination is amplified.”