OpenAI film ‘Artificial’ is “most urgently relevant film of our time”, critics say

Artificial, Luca Guadagnino’s drama about OpenAI founder Sam Altman, is a “terrifying” and “urgently relevant” film, according to early reviews.

• READ MORE: The best films of 2026… so far!

Artificial stars Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who was forced out of his own company in 2023 over disagreements with other board members (including Elon Musk) before he regained control five days later.

Directed by Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name, Queer), the drama was originally being financed by Amazon but earlier this year, they stepped away from the nearly-finished project. No reason was given for the decision but in February, Amazon and OpenAI announced a $50billion partnership.

“We believe that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio and are working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.

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Independent studio Neon acquired Artificial, which will now hit cinemas January 22 2027. Last night (Monday October 5) the film had its premiere as part of the New York Film Festival and has received a number of glowing early reviews from those in attendance.

The movie Sam Altman doesn't want you to see.

So much so, he and OpenAI tried to pressure Amazon into deleting the movie.

Seeing Luca Guadagnino's ARTIFICIAL is now a civic duty. It's fighting back against Tech Oligarch censorship. https://t.co/TOTg9n1mNc

— Joe Russo (@joerussotweets) September 8, 2026

“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,” wrote Next Best Picture’s Matt Neglia. “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.”

“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,” said Jairo Jiménez on X while Eric Kohn called it a “pitch-perfect dark comedy about the absence of responsibility in the face of apocalyptic certainty.”

Artificial is the movie of our time. Guadagnino & Rich’s disdain of Altman echoes Sorkin/Fincher’s thesis; these guys are lonely, pathetic, and desperate for power. Garfield is a force of nature, but Borisov & Barbaro stole the show as Altman’s accolytes turned whistleblowers.

— byrne (@wildiife_) October 6, 2026

“In every way, Artificial is the spiritual sequel to The Social Network. threading together betrayal, broken ethics and humor,” wrote The LA Times’ Joshua Rothkopf before praising Damon Albarn’s “Bowie-esque” score.

Speaking on the red carpet, Garfield said that he saw countless news stories about the dangers of AI while filming Artificial (via Variety). “I wish we could give it even more teeth in a way. We need to shine the light as bright as possible at the nooks and crannies of people we’re giving all of our autonomy and power to.”