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The Best Everyday Colognes in 2023 on November 14, 2023 at 5:00 am Us Weekly

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If you’re looking for a new everyday cologne for 2023, this guide is for you! Finding a new cologne can be a difficult task. You need to consider what type of scent you want and what level of quality you’re prepared to pay for. This can be easier said than done as there are hundreds of scents, and prices can range from under $100 to $500 or more!

To help you make a more informed decision on which cologne to purchase, we’ve put together this extensive guide. In it, we explain the layers of notes that make up the overall scent of each cologne, so you’ll get a good idea of what it smells like.

We’ve included top colognes from well-known brands such as Blu Atlas, Tom Ford, Chanel, and Hugo Boss to ensure the quality of each product. If you’re looking for a new everyday cologne for 2023, we’re sure one of the entries in this guide will be perfect for you.

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Let’s get started.

1. Blu Atlas Atlantis Eau De Parfum

Blu Atlas Atlantis tops our list of the best everyday colognes in 2023. Inspired by the unique sights and scents of the beautiful Island of Bali, the Blu Atlas team has produced a cologne that smells fresh and invigorating. Due to its quality, you can be sure it will last all day once applied in the morning!

The cologne is formulated with three distinct levels of notes that work magnificently together. The top notes of bergamot, lemon, and blackcurrant give it some zest while the mid notes of lavender, clary sage, peach, and apricot provide a fresh fruity middle. To bring the scent together, the base notes of orris, oak-moss, violet, ambrette seed, and musk give it a stunning woody masculine finish. If you’re seeking a fresh daily scent that inspires adventure, we recommend you try Blu Atlas Atlantis!

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2. Bvlgari Man in Black

Man in Black Eau de Parfum is among the best-selling colognes from top fashion label, Bvlgari. The scent was launched in 2014 and has gone on to become a favorite among men looking for a great everyday cologne that’s perfect for both work and play.

Man in Black is best described as leathery with a tinge of sweet spices. This is created by a magnificent formulation containing amber, spices, woods, sweet rum, hot tobacco, benzoin, tonka bean, and guaiac wood notes. The result is a luxurious and sophisticated aroma that’s deep and rich. This Bvlgari fragrance should be on your shortlist if you’re looking for a new everyday cologne for 2023.

3. Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue

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Another top-notch, everyday men’s cologne that we love is Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana. It’s the ideal option if you’re looking for a new daily scent because it’s a softer, more delicate fragrance that doesn’t make you stand out too much. You can spray a few drops on your wrists or behind your ears and head out for the day with the confidence that you smell great. Due to the high-quality nature of the product, you can be sure it will last all day.

The cologne is a blend of four exquisite elements that complement one another beautifully to produce a seductively manly scent. The rosemary, Sichuan pepper, and juicy mandarin create fresh fruity notes, while the American musk wood contributes a musky top note. Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue comes in a variety of sizes and is quite reasonably priced considering the quality of the product. Go ahead and give it a try.

4. Lucky You Cologne for Men

Lucky You is a lovely natural cologne that’s perfect for anybody looking for a more earthy daily fragrance to add to their daily grooming routine. The tamarind, cardamom, and bamboo stem notes work great together to create a fresh scent that doesn’t overpower. You’ll smell like a cool summer breeze mixed with a hint of fruity spices.

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If this cologne sounds like the type of new scent you’d love to have, we recommend you pick up a bottle and try it out for yourself. Simply splash a few drops on your sweet points in the morning and you can be confident you’ll smell great all day.

5. Versace Eros for Men

The next entry on our list of the best everyday colognes in 2023 is Versace Eros for Men. Mint, lemon zest, green apple, vanilla, and geranium flower are blended to create a zesty yet masculine scent that’s appropriate for any situation. This makes it a great cologne to spray on in the morning when you head to work or at night when heading out on the town.

As you’d expect from a top luxury brand, Eros comes in a beautiful bottle with distinct Versace styling. It can be purchased in various sizes, so you can start by buying a little bottle and then purchase a larger one if you want to make it your permanent everyday fragrance. The cologne has been skilfully developed, tested, and polished to generate an exquisite scent that gives you a boost of self-confidence whenever you spray a drop or two on your wrists.

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6. Tom Ford For Men

The luxury brand Tom Ford sells a wonderful selection of colognes. One of their best is simply called Tom Ford for Men. Using citrus, wood, tobacco, and leather notes, they’ve produced a fragrance that we love. It’s a really classy fragrance that exudes masculinity. You’ll have a lovely scent when wearing it to the office, out to dinner, or any other occasion on your calendar.

You can tell the company takes great care to formulate high-quality products when you use them and this cologne is no different. You won’t be dissatisfied with a bottle of Tom Ford for Men if you want a scent that stays fresh all day. Go ahead and try it.

 

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7. Dolce & Gabbana Intenso

We love Intenso by Dolce & Gabbana. It’s a great cologne that’s perfect for men looking for a more masculine scent to add to their daily grooming routine. After applying some Intenso to your sweat points, you can leave for the day or night knowing that you’ll smell amazing for hours.

We love the unique profile of this cologne. Its top notes are earthy and aquatic, which are combined with a middle lavender note and base notes of tobacco, balsamic, honey, and wood musk. The outcome is a strong fragrance that smells absolutely fantastic any time of the day. You won’t regret purchasing a bottle of Dolce & Gabbana Intenso if you’re trying to expand your collection of fragrances.

8. Yves Saint Laurent Y

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We love Y by Yves Saint Laurent. It simply smells amazing. You’ll love the blend of bergamot, ginger, apple, sage, geranium, juniper berries, vetiver, cedar, tonka, amber wood, and olibanum notes. The list is long but each addition works amazingly together to create one of the best everyday colognes on the market.

Simply apply a few drops of Y by Yves Saint Laurent after your morning shower and you can go out feeling confident that you’ll smell great for the whole day even if you stay out late! We wholeheartedly recommend purchasing a bottle of Y if you’re seeking a new scent that works for any season.

9. Jimmy Choo Man Blue

Jimmy Choo Man Blue is a fantastic option if you want a classy scent that lasts all day. We adore this cologne’s crisp, sunny aroma. It has great sage and leather elements that combine to make a lovely, fresh cologne that remains masculine. After it’s applied, you’ll smell fantastic and walk with a zip in your step.

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Choose Jimmy Choo Man Blue if you want to smell fresh and breezy every day of the year. All you need to do is spritz a few drops after a shower and you’ll smell great for the whole day and night. If you’re looking for a new cologne to try, you can’t go wrong with this one. We’re confident you’ll love Jimmy Choo Man Blue!

10. Ralph Lauren Polo Blue

Polo Blue by Ralph Lauren is a superstar in the cologne market. The reason for this is simple. It smells great and is made to an exceptionally high standard. Ralph Lauren makes Polo Blue by blending a mix of notes including melon, basil, and washed suede. When combined, it creates a strong yet understated cologne that’s perfect to splash on for any occasion.

Ralph Lauren Polo Blue is great for any man looking for their first cologne or a fresh new scent to add to their collection. Go ahead and try it out for yourself. It’s sure to turn heads wherever you go, and with whoever you go with.

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11. Mont Blanc Legend Spirit

Legend Spirit is a reviving cologne from Mont Blanc. You’ll adore this special scent if a blend of grapefruit, cardamon, and cashmere wood sounds delicious to you. It’s the ideal scent to wear for work and play any time of the year. All you need to do is splash on a few drops and you can head out the door with the confidence that you smell great.

Available in many different-sized bottles, it’s a great cologne to sample, or you can stock up with a large bottle to ensure you have plenty of cologne for the whole year. It also happens to be sold at a great price that provides extraordinary value for money. We don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the scent and quality of Legend Spirit by Mont Blanc!

12. Chanel Bleu De Chanel

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Bleu De Chanel is a wonderful cologne made by luxury brand, Chanel. The cologne is formulated using a special blend of notes. These include woody, citrus, and herb notes that work together brilliantly to create a head-turning scent. The best part is no one note overpowers the other.

Coming from a top luxury brand, you can expect a high-quality cologne that lasts all day long. Simply apply a splash or two on your sweet points and you can confidently head out for a fun night with the special people in your life. Go ahead and pick up a bottle. You won’t be disappointed!

13. Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male

The next fragrance we’ve included on our list is this sophisticated cologne from Jean Paul Gaultier.  Le Male includes an alluring blend of bergamot, cardamom, orange blossom, and vanilla notes that smell as invigorating as a warm summer breeze. It’s a great cologne, which is why we’ve included it on our list of the best everyday colognes in 2023.

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We love how the musky wood notes work with the citrus and vanilla to create a beautiful scent that still manages to stay masculine. Simply splash some cologne onto your sweet points like your wrists or behind your ears and you’ll be all set to take on the world confident in the knowledge that you smell amazing. Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier can be bought in a few different-sized bottles and is available at an excellent price point when you consider how high its quality is.

14. Tom Ford Ombre Leather

This is the second cologne on our list produced by Tom Ford. Ombre Leather is fantastic. It smells magnificent and is made by combining jasmine, white moss, leather, patchouli, and amber. When worn, it emits a seductive aroma that lasts all day regardless of what’s on your calendar. Splash some on before going into the office or before heading out to an event. It’s perfect for all occasions.

It’s among the most expensive colognes on our list, but in our opinion, the extra cost is justified if you want a chic scent that makes you stand out from the crowd. The best way to find out if it’s the right everyday cologne for you is to pick up a bottle and splash it on the next time you head out for work or play. We’re sure you’ll love it.

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15. Burberry For Men

Burberry For Men is a luxurious everyday cologne. Made by the famous luxury brand, Burbery, you can expect a high-quality cologne that smells great and lasts the whole day. Only the best ingredients have been sourced to make this fabulous cologne.

The cologne has a warm masculine scent. Sandalwood, moss, and geranium notes are combined with amber, cedar wood, and tonka notes to produce a distinct fragrance that you’ll love to splash on daily. It’s one of the most elegant colognes on our list of the best everyday colognes.

16. Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Profondo

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Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Profondo is a long-lasting, fragrant cologne with a unique scent that you’d expect from the luxury brand. We love the invigorating, earthy tones. Aqua, bergamot, and green mandarin are the most prominent top notes, while rosemary, lavender, cypress, and mastic make up the middle notes. Beautiful base notes of amber, mineral accord, patchouli, and musk round out the formulation. The end product is a stunning fragrance that’s sure to attract attention.

This cologne makes you smell fantastic all day long whether you’re going to the office, the gym, or meeting up with friends and family. Just spritz a few drops on your sweet points in the morning before you head out the door. Simple as that. It’s sure to become your favorite go-to cologne all year round!

17. Hugo Boss Infinite Eau De Parfum

Boss Infinite is a seductive cologne that you’ll want to wear every day since it combines light and airy zesty notes with strong aromatic notes. Patchouli, lavender, and aromatic sandalwood are combined with the top notes of apple and citrus to produce a seductive, manly smell that’s guaranteed to boost your confidence.

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Whether you’re out on the town or sitting at the office, all you need to do to smell great all day every day is to spritz some Infinite over your pulse points. To top it off, this perfume is available from all major retailers and is sold at a fantastic price. You won’t find many better products on our list than Boss Infinite if you’re looking for a bold new daily scent.

18. Gucci Guilty Oud Eau De Parfum

We love Gucci Guilty cologne and predict that you will too. It combines a delightful blend of rose, chili pepper, salt and vinegar, orange blossom, and lavender with lovely fragrant woody undertones. A spicy and floral aroma emerges as a result. When worn during the day or night you’ll definitely distinguish yourself from your peers.

Simply apply a few drops of Gucci Guilty after getting out of the shower each morning to your wrists or other sweet points and you’ll smell fantastic all day. It’s one of the more expensive perfumes on our list, but if you want a more luxurious and distinctive scent, we think it’s absolutely worth it.

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19. Christian Dior Sauvage Eau De Parfum

Dior’s Sauvage is a very popular cologne with men all over the world. The reasons for this are that not only does it smell great, but it’s also a high-quality cologne that lasts all day. Bergamot, Sichuan pepper, lavender, star anise, nutmeg, and Papua vanilla notes are combined to create the fragrance. When splashed on your wrists, you’ll be met with a wonderful-smelling, rich, spicy scent.

Dior’s Sauvage is offered in a variety of bottle sizes and is available where every high-quality cologne is sold. Don’t just believe what we say. Get a bottle of this top perfume, dab a little on your pulse points, and judge the effects for yourself.

20. Kenneth Cole Reaction

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If you’re looking for a new high-quality cologne that smells amazing, lasts all day, and is suitable for all occasions, Kenneth Cole Reaction should be at the top of your shortlist. It has a wonderful blend of notes that work superbly together to create a masculine yet understated scent that can be worn all day long. This means you only need one cologne for all your regular day and night activities.

The cologne is best described as woody meets zesty. It contains apple, melon, lemon, and sandalwood tones that create the beautiful end product called Reaction. If those notes sound like a bit of you, we thoroughly recommend giving this cologne a try. It might just become your favorite go-to fragrance!

21. Giorgio Armani Aqua Di Gio Pour Homme

Acqua Di Gio Pour Homme is a stunning cologne that’s made to be applied every day of the week regardless of what you get up to. The cologne has an inviting and invigorating scent. Notes of Calabrian bergamot are blended with neroli, fresh green tangerine, rosemary, and patchouli to create this stunning cologne. It has a much deeper and more sophisticated scent than many other colognes sold at this price point.

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The cologne is great for everyday use and can be purchased at all major retailers. We recommend purchasing a small bottle first so you can test it out for yourself before buying a larger bottle. Go ahead and give it a try. We think you’ll love it.

22. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir

If you’re looking for a luxurious daily cologne, this one’s for you. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Grand Soir is a top-of-the-line cologne that has a distinct scent. The cologne is produced with a stunning blend of amber, tonic beans, and Cistus labdanum. The end result is deep and invigorating.

It’s a great cologne for all occasions. Splash some on before going to the office or when heading out for a night on the town. At any time of the day, this cologne will make you feel a million dollars. If you want to stand out from the crowd, this is the cologne for you.

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23. The Nue Co. Functional Fragrance

The Nue Co. has produced a lovely cologne that they call Functional Fragrance. It was created by using research into the connection that exists between smells and how the brain processes them. The result is a scent that produces a sense of calmness while smelling amazing.

The formulation includes green cardamom, bergamot, and cilantro notes to create a fresh, woody scent with a hint of spice. It’s a wonderful cologne for everyday use if you’re looking for a new fragrance that doesn’t overpower. To see what all the fuss is about, we recommend you try it out for yourself.

24. Yves Saint Laurent L’homme

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We love Yves Saint Laurent’s L’homme and we think you will too. It has a wonderful scent and is a great cologne for everyday use regardless of which season it is. In order to create it, musky woody tones, tangy citrus, and smoky floral notes are combined. You’ll like spraying on this macho and tangy fragrance every morning before leaving the house for the day!

There aren’t many better colognes on our list than this one if you’re looking for a new distinctive fragrance to splash on daily. All top retailers, online and in brick-and-mortar shops, carry L’homme by Yves Saint Laurent, which is offered at an excellent price considering how high-quality it is.

25. Givenchy Play

The Givenchy team has carefully crafted Play to produce a seductive and manly fragrance that’s perfect for everyday use. The fragrance starts out with top notes of Amyris wood, which creates a musky aroma. The middle notes of bitter orange and grapefruit provide a citrus element that’s complemented beautifully by the base notes of black pepper and patchouli. You’ll look forward to wearing this lovely cologne whenever you get the chance.

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Play by Givenchy is an excellent choice if you want a new scent that lasts all day. Although it costs a little bit more than some of our other top recommendations on this list, the product’s quality is worth every cent. Go ahead and pick up a bottle and give it a try. We think you will love it.

26. Azzaro Chrome

Azzaro Chrome is the final entry on our list of the best everyday colognes in 2023. The cologne smells like a calm seaside breeze with a dash of citrus, making it especially great if you want to smell fresh and summery all year round. It makes an excellent choice if you want a cologne for both work and play.

The cologne is produced by blending an exquisite mix of citrus, woody, and aquatic notes, which work beautifully together because no one note dominates the others. Instead, they complement each other to create a wonderful fragrance you’ll love to use every day. If you’re on the hunt for a new everyday cologne to add to your daily grooming routine, we wholeheartedly advise giving Chrome by Azzaro a try.

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Branded content. Us Weekly has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services. If you’re looking for a new everyday cologne for 2023, this guide is for you! Finding a new cologne can be a difficult task. You need to consider what type of scent you want and what 

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Entertainment

What Kanye’s ‘Father’ Says About Power, Faith, and Control

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Kanye West’s “Father” video looks like a fever dream in a church, but underneath the spectacle it’s a quiet argument about who really runs the world. The altar isn’t just about God; it’s about every “father” structure that decides what’s true, who belongs, and who gets cast out.

The church as power, not comfort

The church in “Father” doesn’t behave like a safe, sacred space. It feels like a headquarters. The aisle becomes a catwalk for power: brides, a knight, a nun, a Michael Jackson double, astronauts, Travis Scott, all moving through the frame while Kanye mostly sits and watches. The room doesn’t change for them—they’re the ones being processed.

That’s the first big tell: this isn’t just about religion. It’s about systems. The church stands in for any institution that claims moral authority—governments, platforms, labels, churches, media—places where identity, status, and “truth” are negotiated behind the scenes. Faith is the language; control is the product.

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Kanye as the unmanageable outsider

In this universe, Kanye isn’t the leader of the service. He’s a problem in the pews. The wildest scene makes that explicit: astronauts move in, pull off his mask, expose him as an “alien,” and carry him out. It’s funny, surreal—and brutal.

That moment plays like a metaphor for what happens when someone stops being useful to the system. If you’re too unpredictable, too loud, too off‑script, the institution finds a way to unmask you, label you, and remove you. But here’s the twist: once he’s gone, the spectacle continues. Travis still shines, the ceremony rolls on, the church keeps doing what the church does. The message is cold: no one is bigger than the machine.

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Faith vs obedience

The title “Father” is doing triple duty: God, parent, and patriarchal authority. The video leans into a hard question—are we following something we believe in, or something we’re afraid to disappoint?

Inside this church, people don’t react when things get strange. A nun is handled like a criminal, cards burn, an alien is dragged away, and the room barely flinches. That’s not devotion, that’s conditioning. The deeper critique is that many of our modern “faiths”—political, religious, even fandom—have slid from relationship into obedience. You’re not invited to wrestle with meaning; you’re expected to sit down, sing along, and accept the script.

Who gets meaning, who gets sacrificed

The casting in “Father” feels like a visual ranking chart. The knight represents sanctioned force: power that’s old, armored, and legitimated by history. The cross and church setting evoke sacrifice: whose pain gets honored, whose story gets canonized, whose doesn’t. The Michael Jackson lookalike signals how even fallen icons remain useful as symbols long after their humanity is gone.

In that context, Kanye’s removal reads as a sacrifice that keeps the system intact. Take the problematic prophet out of the frame, keep the music, keep the ritual, keep the brand. The father‑system doesn’t collapse; it adjusts. Control isn’t loud in this world—it’s quiet, procedural, dressed like order.

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A mirror held up to us

The most uncomfortable part of “Father” is that the congregation keeps sitting there. No one storms out. No one screams. The church absorbs aliens, icons, arrests, and weddings like it’s a normal Sunday. That’s where the video stops being about Kanye and starts being about us.

We’ve learned to scroll past absurdity and injustice with the same blank face as those extras in the pews. Faith becomes content. Outrage becomes engagement. Power becomes invisible. “Father” takes all of that and crushes it into one continuous shot, asking a bigger question than “Is Kanye back?”

It’s asking: in a world where power wears holy clothes, faith is filmed, and control looks like normal life, who is your father really—and are you sure you chose him?

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The machine isn’t coming. It’s aleady the room.

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The machine isn’t coming. It’s already in the room.

Indie creators debate AI tools vs. authenticity. Built for your exact audience.

Picture this: you spend two years writing a script. You hustle funding, build a team, reach out to casting. Then somewhere inside a studio, a software platform analyzes your concept against fifteen years of box office data and decides—before a single human executive reads page one—that your film is too risky to greenlight.

This isn’t a Black Mirror episode. This is Hollywood in 2026.


The Numbers Don’t Lie

The generative AI market inside media and entertainment just crossed $2.24 billion and is projected to hit $21.2 billion by 2035—a 25% annual growth rate. Studios like Warner Bros. are running platforms like Cinelytic, a decision-intelligence tool that predicts box office performance with 94–96% accuracy before a single dollar of production money moves.

Netflix estimates its AI recommendation engine saves the company $1 billion per year just in subscriber retention. Meanwhile, over the past three years, more than 41,000 film and TV jobs have disappeared in Los Angeles County alone.

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That’s not a trend. That’s a restructuring.


The Moment That Changed Everything

In February 2026, ByteDance’s AI generator Seedance 2.0 produced a hyper-realistic deepfake video featuring the likenesses of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It went viral instantly. SAG-AFTRA called it “blatant infringement.” The Human Artistry Campaign called it “an attack on every creator in the world.”

Then came Tilly Norwood—a fully AI-generated actress created by production company Particle 6—who was seriously considered for agency representation in Hollywood. The first synthetic human to knock on that door.

Matthew McConaughey didn’t mince words at a recent industry town hall. He looked at Timothée Chalamet and said:

“It’s already here. Own yourself. Voice, likeness, et cetera. Trademark it. Whatever you gotta do, so when it comes, no one can steal you.”

James Cameron told CBS the idea of generating actors with prompts is “horrifying.” Werner Herzog called AI films “fabrications with no soul.” Guillermo del Toro said he would “rather die” than use generative AI to make a film.

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But here’s the thing—not everyone agrees.


The Indie Filmmaker’s Double-Edged Sword

At SXSW 2026, indie filmmakers made something clear in a packed panel: they don’t want AI to make their movies. They want AI to “do their dishes.”

That’s the real conversation happening at the ground level.

Independent filmmaker Brad Tangonan used Google’s AI suite to create Murmuray—a deeply personal short film he says he never could have made without the tools. Not because he lacked talent, but because he lacked budget. He wrote it. He directed it. The AI executed parts of his vision he couldn’t afford to shoot.

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“I see all of these tools, whether it be a camera you can pick up or generative AI, as ways for an artist to express what they have in their mind,” he said.

In Austin, an independent filmmaker built a 7-minute short in three weeks using AI-generated video—a project that would have taken 3–4 months and cost ten times more the traditional way. That’s the version of this story studios don’t want you focused on.

At CES 2026, Arcana Labs announced the first fully AI-generated short film to receive a SAG-approved contract—a milestone that proves AI-assisted production can operate inside union protections when done right.


The Fight Coming This Summer

The WGA contract expires May 1, 2026. SAG-AFTRA’s expires June 30. AI is the headline issue at the bargaining table—and the last time these two unions went to war with studios over it, Hollywood shut down for 118 days.

SAG is expected to push the “Tilly Tax”—a fee studios pay every time they use a synthetic actor—directly inspired by Tilly Norwood’s emergence. The WGA already prohibits studios from handing writers AI-generated scripts for a rewrite fee. Now they want bigger walls.

Meanwhile, the Television Academy’s 2026 Emmy rules now include explicit AI language: human creative contribution must remain the “core” of any submission. AI assistance is allowed—but the Academy reserves the right to investigate how it was used.

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The Oscars and Emmys are essentially saying: the robot didn’t get nominated. The human did.


What This Means for You

If you’re an indie filmmaker between 25 and 45, you’re operating in the most disruptive creative environment since the camera went digital. AI can cut your post-production time by up to 40%. It can help you pre-visualize shots, generate temp scores, clean up audio, and pitch your project with a sizzle reel you couldn’t afford six months ago.

But the machine that helps you make your film is the same machine that could make studios decide they don’t need you to make theirs.

Producer and director Taylor Nixon-Smith said it best: “Entertainment, once a sacred space, now feels like it’s in a state of purgatory.”

The question isn’t whether AI belongs in your workflow. It’s whether you’re the one holding the wheel—or whether the wheel is slowly being handed to an algorithm that has never once felt what it means to have a story only you can tell.

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This scene almost broke him. And changed his career.

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As Sinners surges into the cultural conversation, it’s impossible to ignore the force of Christian Robinson’s performance. His “let me in” door scene has become one of the film’s defining moments—raw, desperate, and unforgettable. But the power of that scene makes the most sense when you understand the journey that brought him there.

From church play to breakout roles

Christian’s path didn’t begin on a Hollywood set. It started in a Brooklyn church, when a woman named Miss Val kept asking him to be in a play.

“I told her no countless times,” he remembers. “Every time she saw me, she asked me and she wouldn’t stop asking me.”

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He finally said yes—and everything changed.

“I did it once and I fell in love,” he says. That one performance pushed him into deep research on the craft, a move to Atlanta, and years of unglamorous work: training, auditioning, stacking small wins until he booked his first roles and then Netflix’s Burning Sands, where many met him as Big Country.

By the time Sinners came along, he wasn’t a newcomer hoping to get lucky. He was an actor who had quietly built the muscles to carry something bigger.

The door scene: life or death

On The Roselyn Omaka Show, Christian shared the directing note Ryan Coogler gave him before filming the door scene:

“He explained to me, ‘I need you to bang on this door as if your life depended on it. Like it’s a matter of life and death.’”

Christian didn’t just turn up the volume; he reached deeper.

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“This film speaks a lot about our ancestors,” he told Roselyn Omaka. “So I tried to give a glimpse of what our ancestors would’ve experienced if someone or something that could bring ultimate destruction was after them. How hard would they bang? How loud would they scream to try to get into a place safely? That’s what I intended to convey in that moment.”

That inner picture—life or death, ancestors, ultimate destruction—is why the scene hits like more than a plot beat. It feels like generational memory breaking through a single frame.

Living through a “history” moment in real time

When Roselyn asks what he’s processing as Sinners takes off, Christian admits he’s still inside the wave.

“I’ve never experienced a project with this level of reception and energy and momentum,” he says. “People having their theories and breaking it down and doing reenactments… it’s never been a time like this in my career.”

He’s careful not to over‑define something that’s still unfolding: “There’s no way to give an accurate description of what I’m experiencing while I’m still experiencing it.” He knows he’ll need distance to name it fully.

But he can name one thing: “If I could gather any adjective to describe it, it would be gratefulness. I’m grateful.”

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He also feels the weight of what this film might mean long-term:

“To know that I was there for a large amount of the time it was being brought to life, and a part of what the internet is saying will be history… this is something that I’m inspired by—to shoot for the stars in whatever passion rooted in creativity that you possess.”

Music, joy, and the man behind the moment

Christian talks about the music of Sinners as another force that shaped him. The score wasn’t playing nonstop; it showed up in key moments.

HCFF
HCFF

“The music was played when it was necessary to be played. But when it was played, it resonated,” he says. Hearing Miles Caton’s songs early, before the world did, he remembers thinking, “This is going to be magical… This is one of the ones right here.”

For all the heaviness of the story, he also brought levity. He laughs about being the jokester on set—singing Juvenile and Lil Wayne in the New Orleans hair and makeup trailer, trying to make everyone smile during Essence Fest weekend. “I’m a fun guy,” he says. “I love to see people laugh and have a good time.”

PATHS for us and opening doors

What might be most revealing is how seriously Christian takes his responsibility off screen. In 2015, sitting in his apartment outside Atlanta, he felt God tell him to start a nonprofit called PATHS.

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“I heard from God and he told me to start a nonprofit called PATHS,” he recalls. At first, he and his peers went into schools and inner‑city communities to teach young people “the many different paths to entering the entertainment industry”—not just the craft, but “the practical steps and establishing yourself, like the business of an actor… a stunt person, hair and makeup, etc.”

When the pandemic hit and school visits stopped, he pivoted to a podcast and digital platform: “Fine, I’ll do it,” he laughs. Now PATHS for us lets “anyone anywhere that desires to be in entertainment hear from credible entertainment industry professionals on how they got to where they are and how you can do the same.”

Working on Sinners confirmed that he should go all in: “It just gave me exactly what I needed to know that I should pour my all into it.”

Honoring a history-making moment

As Sinners takes off, Christian keeps coming back to one word: gratefulness—for the film, for the collaborators, for the chance to be part of something people are calling historic.

At Bolanle Media, we see more than a viral scene. We see an artist whose craft is rooted in faith, ancestors, and hard-earned discipline; whose joy lifts the rooms he works in; and whose platform is opening real paths for others.

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This scene almost broke him. And changed his career.
Now, as the world catches up, Christian Robinson is using that breakthrough not just to walk through new doors—but to help the next generation find theirs.

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