First reactions to 'Artificial' film starring Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Andrew Garfield is back in his tech bro bag with his latest acting role playing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in the biographical comedy drama Artificial.

The film is directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Simon Rich and stars Garfield alongside Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Ike Barinholtz, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, and Mark Rylance.

It is set during a dramatic five-day period that saw the controversial firing and rehiring of Altman in November 2023.

(L-R) Yura Borisov, Luca Guadagnino, Andrew Garfield and Ike Barinholtz attend the premiere of "Artificial" during the 64th New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on October 05, 2026 in New York City. Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for FLC

But the hotly anticipated film wasn't without drama when concerning it's distribution.

The film was financed by Amazon MGM Studios, with the film costing $40 million, but after production had completed, they announced in June that they would no longer be distributing Artificial saying it would “be better served if it were released by a different studio” and was then picked up by indie distributor NEON.

This news came months after Amazon announced its $50 billion investment into OpenAI and about a year since Altman had been in attendance at the wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to Lauren Sánchez.

First reactions and early reviews are in...

NEON

Artificial premiered at the New York Film Festival on Monday night, with early reviews already coming where critics have been praising the film.

Variety's Owen Gleiberman said, "As you watch the film, AI comes alive as a subject. It becomes real — you touch what it is, what it means, what the stakes are. The result is a movie that’s at once inspiring and deeply chilling, and when it’s over you’re in a different place,"

"Be afraid. Be very afraid. At least that is how I felt after watching Guadagnino’s origin story of how OpenAI and its marquee product, ChatGPT, came to be," wrote Deadline's Pete Hammond, praising Garfield's "stunning" performance of "creating a portrait of a guy who changes his story depending on whoever he happens to be talking to."

Awards Radar's Joey Magidson, noted "The first half of the film is actually very funny, while the second half pulls back on the jokes, eventually becoming a fairly sobering drama," and also praised Yura Borisov's that "Anora was no fluke, delivering another strong performance as the moral center of the film."

Here are some initial social media reaction from those who attended the premiere:

Joshua Rothkopf, film editor at the LA Times wrote, "Luca Guadagnino just ate Sorkin’s lunch. In every way, ARTIFICIAL is the spiritual sequel to THE SOCIAL NETWORK, threading together betrayal, broken ethics and humor — and arriving at a vision as scary as COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT. Damon Albarn’s Bowie-esque score ftw."

(For context, Garfield previously played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in the 2010 film The Social Network).

Variety’s Clayton Davis wrote described Artificial as “Guadagnino’s best film in a decade” and “Andrew Garfield and Yura Borisov soar to new heights. Loved.”

"Andrew Garfield is terrifyingly precise in ARTIFICIAL. He captures Sam Altman’s chillingly polite, messianic aura in a brilliant balancing act of manic genius and corporate coldness. Absolutely electric!" commented Jairo Jiménez.

The Hollywood Reporter's David Canfield noted, "In Guadagnino's bleakly compelling ARTIFICIAL, Andrew Garfield takes some massive & tricky swings in his portrayal of Sam Altman. What he pulls off is mesmerizing, strange and terrifyingly seductive, especially as he finally becomes the film's center. A career-best performance."

"ARTIFICIAL is Luca Guadagnino’s telling of the origins of the AI boom and where it may one day lead us. As entertaining as it is terrifying, it’s a brilliantly written human story about power, control, ambition, and greed that might be the most urgently relevant film of our time," shared Next Best Picture's Matt Neglia.

"Wanna be clear: Luca Guadagnino’s ARTIFICIAL is a horror comedy. About the destruction of humanity. In real time. You’re laughing at the ridiculous characters & also THESE PEOPLE EXIST, they’re running the world, and the info in the movie is already old. F***ing terrifying," said journalist and author Jada Yuan.

"Andrew Garfield walks a fine line between movie monster, buffoonish mogul, and evil genius," Eric Kohn posted.

The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood said, "In a year of filmmakers warning us the end is coming Artificial is a sledgehammer. My lord. And not that he needs it, but Andrew Garfield gives Sam Altman the most epic character assassination ever."

"Artificial is tremendous, a blistering and furious reworking of The Social Network for a world that’s well past the point of destruction, intimate in character but sweeping in scale, more acutely aware of our expiration date than any other film this year. a major achievement," another wrote.

It's fair to say all of these reactions have intrigued many of us, as one person reacted, "People calling Artificial the true Social Network sequel... okay now you got me interested."

When is the release date?

NEON

Artificial is set to be released in US cinemas on Christmas Day and in UK and Ireland on 22 January 2027.

Why not read...

• Andrew Garfield reveals terrifying reason he stopped using ChatGPT after playing Sam Altman in Artificial
• What are critics saying about 'Verity' starring Anne Hathaway?

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