Catrina AI
Catrina AI is the short name the wave goes by: AI that reads one photo and returns the person as La Catrina of The Book of Life — the reveal that took over TikTok in the week before Día de Muertos 2026.
What this page is
What Catrina AI is, and how to run it
Catrina AI is the one-photo version of the fairytale Catrina look. The look itself is La Catrina dressed for a storybook — sugar-skull paint in white and gold around the eyes and along the jaw, an embroidered lace gown with marigolds worked into the bodice, a crown of orange and purple flowers or a wide lace hat, candles and cempasúchil petals in the air. The AI reads a photo, keeps the face under the paint, and generates the gown, the candles and the petals around it, in the clip's own length and with its own sound.
You run it at https://www.viralreel.app/sasha-la-catrina-ai-template. Pick a reveal from the sample list — the flower toss, the ofrenda hands-over-face, the Catrín, or the pet versions — upload one clear front-facing photo (for a pet, its whole head and markings), and generate. Samples run 5, 10 or 15 seconds, vertical 9:16.
The trend's shape came from Đan Thy's flower toss (40.6M plays on 20 October 2026) and the CapCut template named Sasha La Catrina that made the reveal one photo long. Post with the AI-generated label on, and ride the peak on November 1-2.
- Pick a reveal, upload one photo. Open the Sasha La Catrina template, pick the reveal you want from the sample list — the flower toss, the ofrenda hands-over-face, the Catrín, or the pet versions — and upload one clear front-facing photo. Face toward the camera, hands away from the face, waist-up if you want the gown. For a pet, a photo where the whole head and its markings show. JPG, PNG, and WebP work.
- Generate the transformation. The clip's reveal, camera, gown and sound are all pre-built — your photo only supplies the face. Check the credit cost shown before you start and generate. The AI keeps your face under the sugar-skull paint and rebuilds the gown, the candles and the petals around it at the clip's own length.
- Download the MP4. Download the vertical MP4 when the render finishes — the reveal lands on the marigold light, with the sample's original sound already kept. Paid credit packs and monthly plans export without a ViralReel watermark.
- Post with the trend sound and the AI label. Post on TikTok under #fairytalecatrina, #lacatrina and #sashalacatrina — or on Reels and Shorts. If the sound is missing from your download, add "Adiós señora bonita" (from The Book of Life) from the in-app library, and turn on the AI-generated label where the platform asks. The trend peaks on Día de Muertos, November 1-2.
Turn one photo into Catrina · The seven reveals · TikTok posting guide · See pricing
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Catrina AI the same as the Catrina filter?
People use both names for the same effect. On TikTok and CapCut it travels as the Sasha La Catrina template, and viewers call it the Catrina AI filter or effect when they see it in the feed. ViralReel runs it as a one-photo generation with seven reveal samples.
How many photos does it need?
One. Most reveals have a single person in them. The pet versions take one photo of the pet; a pair version would take a second photo as Image 2.
Come back as Catrina while the marigolds are up
The template is on ViralReel. Pricing lists credit packs and monthly plans.