This study examines AI-driven cinematic transformation through the lens of ontological rupture and retroactivity, rejecting continuous evolutionary narratives. The backlash against hyper-smooth AI upscaling and the algorithmic simulation of analog defects reveal a retroactive desire for cinema's lost indexicality. This study argues that "film-ness" is not an inherent physical essence, but a computational parameter and a myth retroactively constructed in the age of machine vision.

Minhyuk Kim is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Film Theory at the Graduate School of Advanced Imaging Science, Multimedia and Film, Chung-Ang University. Their research interests focus on AI cinema and digital image ontology