Luca Guadagnino's AI Drama 'Artificial' Debuts at New York Film Festival
The film, starring Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman, premiered to strong critical praise and is set for a Christmas Day release by Neon.
Luca Guadagnino’s film "Artificial" opened at the New York Film Festival on Monday, drawing enthusiastic reviews from several critics. The drama, which dramatizes the 2023 firing and rehiring of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, features Andrew Garfield in the lead role, with Yura Borisov portraying OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever and a supporting cast that includes Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk and Mark Rylance as Geoffrey Hinton.
Critics highlighted the film’s blend of corporate intrigue and dark humor. > "Artificial is as entertaining as it is terrifying," wrote Matt Neglia, noting Garfield’s performance as both charming and menacing. > "It’s a brilliantly written human story about power, control, ambition and greed," he added. Eric Kohn described the movie as a “pitch-perfect dark comedy,” while Jairo Jiménez called it a “feverish, visceral corporate drama.” Variety’s Clayton Davis called it Guadagnino’s best film in a decade.
The production, financed at $40 million after Neon acquired the project in June, faced distribution setbacks when Amazon MGM Studios withdrew following its partnership with OpenAI. Guadagnino told Vulture that he is not concerned about potential reactions from the real-life figures depicted, emphasizing the responsibility of powerful individuals to the broader community.
Neon plans an awards campaign that will position Garfield and Rylance for supporting-actor nominations, Borisov for lead-actor, and Monica Barbaro for supporting actress. The film is scheduled to open in U.S. theaters on December 25.