Andrew Garfield’s new drama called "pitch-perfect" and "terrifying" in first reviews

The first reviews have hit for Andrew Garfield’s new movie Artificial, following its world premiere at the 2026 New York Film Festival. The film sees Garfield star as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and, while not a horror movie, many critics have been left terrified for our future after their first watch.

Artificial focuses on the five-day period in 2023 when Altman was fired and then re-hired by OpenAI, the company he co-founded. Yura Borisov stars as Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's other co-founder.

It is directed by Call Me By Your Name and Queer helmer Luca Guadagnino from a script by ex-SNL writer Simon Rich, with Blur's Damon Albarn composing the soundtrack.

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The film currently holds a very impressive 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with NextBestPicture Editor-In-Chief Matt Neglia calling it "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," Neglia wrote on X.

"Andrew Garfield delivers one of his most unsettling and transformative performances as Sam Altman, equally capturing his disarming charm and unnerving malice."

Eric Kohn wrote on X: "Artificial is a pitch-perfect dark comedy about the absence of responsibility in the face of apocalyptic certainty.

"Andrew Garfield walks a fine line between movie monster, buffoonish mogul, and evil genius. A fun/scary ride that embodies the paradox at its center."

The Hollywood Reporter said that Artificial ranks among Guadagnino’s best work, adding: "Its dry humor lulling us into a relaxed state of enjoyment before the sword comes down on the scary reality we’re now facing."

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The Wrap added:"This film may be the world’s obituary, but in its thrilling, creative and provocative telling, it also reminds exactly what makes human beings – and their art, specifically – special."

Artificial also stars A Complete Unknown's Monica Barbaro, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Rylance and Chris O'Dowd, with The Studio's Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.

Artificial hit US cinemas on December 25 and UK cinemas on January 22, 2027.

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Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.

After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.

Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.