The Reviews Are In: ‘Artificial’ is Real Good

Artificial is the film we almost didn’t get. After Amazon decided to drop the project (after signing a big deal with OpenAI, the film’s subject matter), it was unclear if Luca Guadagnino’s latest directorial effort would see the light of day. But with independent production house Neon behind it, Artificial is set to hit theaters on Christmas Day of this year, and critics got their first look at the film at its debut screening at the New York Film Festival last night. By most accounts of folks in the audience for the first showing, not only is it a solid flick, but it’s probably going to piss off some of its subjects. The film is sitting at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with 12 reviews at the time of publication, and there is lots of praise to be found from the early takes of the film, which follows OpenAI CEO Sam Altman before and during the period when he was suddenly and unceremoniously fired as company head, only to be reinstated just a few days later after the company was thrown into chaos. The Hollywood Reporter heaped praise on lead Andrew Garfield, tasked with playing Altman in the film. The publication described his take on Altman as a “demon twink” with a “glint of sociopathic madness” in his eyes. IndieWire described the performance as an “apocalyptic gay cross between Regina George and Agent Smith” that manifests in a “machiavellian queen bee with a penchant for upspeak and a frighteningly blasé attitude toward replacing mankind with computers.” The Financial Times offered a critique of Garfield’s portrayal, saying that “he lacks a certain spooky visionary vibe,” but one might wonder if that’s intentional and revealing of what Guadagnino and Garfield really think of Altman as the singular bringer of the singularity. Still, the publication acknowledged he’ll likely get an award nomination for the role and highlighted how he repeatedly seduces believers and skeptics alike. TheWrap picked up on that, too, writing that Garfield plays Altman as a “master of seduction in all respects.” Garfield’s primary foil in the film is Yura Borisov of Anora fame, tackling the role of computer scientist Ilya Sutskever, portrayed in the film as a well-meaning person with a soul that is lacking in Altman. THR described Borisov’s take as a “brainy, tender, deeply contemplative performance” that provides “an anchoring humanity to a film that might otherwise have curdled into sourness and despair.” Sutskever is the true believer of the film, per The Daily Beast, the guy who sees the potential for AI to provide “tremendous benefits for mankind.” Of course, Altman knows exactly how to use that to manipulate him. The film also seems to be littered with other performances that pop off the screen. Comedian Ike Barinholtz gets tapped to play Elon Musk, which the Financial Times describes as “a ready-made ‘Saturday Night Live’ parody”—though, how do you paly a human cartoon character other than big and barely short of broad satire? IndieWire said Barinholtz plays Musk as “alpha dweeb who’s wearing his own skin like a too-small t-shirt.” Variety called it an “irresistible showbiz turn that lands just this side of caricature,” which seems to work in the movie’s favor. Other praiseworthy performances, per the reviews, come from Jason Schwartzman, who Deadline highlighted for turning in a “terrific” turn as a hippie-like character with a warning about unchecked AI. Mark Rylance, playing Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, is described by Variety as a “delectably refined professor,” and THR said Cooper Hoffman turns in an impressive performance as “perhaps the most obnoxious” person in a story full of deeply obnoxious people. Guadagnino’s take on the Altman and OpenAI story inevitably drew comparisons to The Social Network, David Fincher’s 2010 masterpiece on the founding of Facebook, across multiple reviews. Strange, then, that it’ll be going up against the sequel to that film, The Social Reckoning, which will hit theaters this week. But by the early accounts, it seems Artificial is closer to the spiritual successor to Fincher’s work—a stylish character study of the people who run the world now, where there is both a level of human understanding and, ultimately, a deep contempt for the people who are much more used to fawning and uncritical praise.