Artificial
After some bumpy roads in distribution, Artificial finally made its premiere for an audience. Andrew Garfield (We Live in Time) stars as Sam Altman, while Yura Borisov (Anora) plays Ilya Sutskever, a co-founder who led the movement to boot Altman out of the company, Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown) plays chief technology officer Mira Murati, Cooper Hoffman (The Long Walk) plays board chairman Greg Brockman, and Ike Barinholtz (The Studio) plays Elon Musk. The script was penned by Simon Rich (Miracle Workers), who also produces alongside Heyday Films’ David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford, as well as Jennifer Fox and Guadagnino.
First reactions
The first viewers of Artificial at the New York Film Festival have taken to social media to share their early impressions. So, what are people saying about this controversial film?
Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture said, “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. Andrew Garfield delivers one of his most unsettling and transformative performances as Sam Altman, equally capturing his disarming charm and unnerving malice. Yura Borisov is magnificent as the brilliant mind behind OpenAI, wrestling with the moral implications of the creation he has helped unleash upon the world with intelligence and empathy. Damon Albarn’s electronic, atmospheric score perfectly sets the mood for this tech-driven narrative, while Guadagnino’s cinematic flourishes are bountiful, resulting in what may be his funniest and scariest film to date. Provocative, engaging, and downright horrifying, it’s the movie of the moment that we may not even be able to look back on if the vision of the future it presents comes true.”
Variety’s Clayton Davis was really revved up by the movie, saying, “Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial tells the true story of the five days in November 2023 when humanity probably had its last real shot at survival, and blew it because of money and small-dick tech bros. We are so cooked. All that aside, it’s Guadagnino’s best film in a decade, with Andrew Garfield and Yura Borisov soaring to new heights. Loved it. #Artificial”
Film Editor Joshua Rothkopf compared it to The Social Network, saying, “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. #NYFF”
Freelance writer Jada Yuan pointed out how terrifying the film is, saying, “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. Fucking terrifying #nyff”
Writer and Filmmaker Greg Pomes called this film the real sequel to The Social Network, saying, “Have another screening to go to so a longer review will come later but I absolutely loved Luca Guadagnino’s #Artificial It’s an intimate character study but on a huge scale. The cast is amazing. Andrew Garfield fully becomes Sam Altman. Monica Barbaro is excellent as always. Yura Borisov is the real star here. This is the real sequel to The Social Network”
Jairo Jiménez praises Andrew Garfield’s performance, saying, “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! #NYFF64”
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