Love at First Lag
GENRES:
Comedy, Romance, Short
YEAR OF PRODUCTION:
November, 2025
LANGUAGE:
English
RUNTIME:
1,5 minutes
PRODUCTION / DISTRIBUTION:
A1GEN01 Labs 2025 | Ⓒ Jacek Kadaj
CAST:
When two strangers try to connect online, their messages must survive a chaotic physical underworld where Wi-Fi runs on exhausted hamsters, emojis are factory-made, and digital firewalls are guarded by actual bouncers—proving that modern love requires more than just good timing.
“Love at First Lag” reveals an unseen truth we all feel but never see: every message, emoji, file and notification travels through an absurd, hyper-physical universe. A place where Wi-Fi is powered by exhausted hamsters, emojis are manufactured in chaotic factories, RAW files are heavier than shipping crates, and digital firewalls are guarded by actual bouncers. The film remixes reality into a playful, surreal rom-com about two people trying to connect while their messages fight through a tangled, malfunctioning digital underworld. It’s a story about modern communication, frustration, timing, and the tiny miracles that happen between “send” and “seen.” Created entirely with AI tools, the project blends cinematic storytelling, humor, and world-building to visualize what our devices never show us — the hidden journey of a single message that might just change everything. The unseen truth: behind every instant connection lies a chaotic universe working very, very hard.
The Threshold has been officially selected and honored at international film festivals.
Written, Directed and AI-Generated by Jacek Kadaj
Jacek Kadaj is a Warsaw-based filmmaker, photographer, and AI artist with over 30 years of experience in traditional cinema. Trained as a cinematographer, he has collaborated with National Geographic and Getty Images, earned numerous photography awards, and presented his work in international exhibitions. In recent years, he has embraced generative AI as a new creative lens, producing award-winning AI films that blend poetic imagery with emotional depth. His work seeks to explore whether technology can capture — and even amplify — the fragility, tension, and beauty of human stories.
Director's statement
I wanted to show what we all feel but never see: the invisible journey of a single message.
“Love at First Lag” imagines the digital world as a real, physical place—absurd and chaotic. Wi-Fi powered by exhausted hamsters, emojis made in factories, firewalls guarded by bouncers. It’s ridiculous because it should be. Our entire emotional lives depend on systems we don’t understand. At its core, this is a story about two people trying to connect while everything goes wrong. It’s about the frustration, the waiting, the tiny miracles between “send” and “seen.” Sometimes, against all odds, the message gets through.
All characters and events in this film are fictional and AI-generated. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
