{"id":365534,"date":"2026-10-06T05:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T05:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365534\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T05:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T05:26:20","slug":"artificial-review-andrew-garfield-plays-sam-altman-in-openai-origin-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/365534\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Artificial’ Review: Andrew Garfield Plays Sam Altman In OpenAI Origin Tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tArtificial<\/a>, which had its world premiere Monday at the New York Film Festival<\/a>, certainly comes in with a bit of controversy attached. Produced and made under Amazon MGM Studios, the Luca Guadagnino<\/a> film about the origin of OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman and key creative Ilya Sutskever, was shopped around after Amazon decided<\/a> maybe a tech company was not appropriate to release the finished film. Could it be the fact that Jeff Bezos with his own AI<\/a> ambitions pumped $150 billion into OpenAI? Just sayin\u2019. <\/p>\n

\n\tAfter screening for a number of distributors in late spring, all of which passed, Neon<\/a>, the scrappy indie with two Best Picture wins to its credit, decided it would take it on<\/a> and scheduled a release for Christmas Day. The initial plan reportedly was to skip the festival circuit<\/a>, but that clearly changed and is how NYFF<\/a> \u2014 which is having a banner year for nabbing world premieres (not its usual status) \u2014 would up with the honor of first showing<\/a> what Guadagnino hath wrought.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film comes amidst an onslaught of new movies, both narrative and documentary, centered on tech personalities. There is Alex Gibney\u2019s four-hour docu Musk<\/a>; Nathan Fielder\u2019s and Lance Oppenheim\u2019s three-hour surprise Telluride sensation<\/a> on Elizabeth Holmes, You Can See Everything<\/a>; and this week\u2019s wide release sans any festival exposure of Aaron Sorkin\u2019s The Social Network follow-up The Social Reckoning<\/a> (reviews on that one hit at 6 a.m. PT Wednesday). <\/p>\n

\n\tArtificial \u2018s debut also comes at a timely moment when AI, and its ominous future, has become the stuff of daily headlines, especially after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned and testified that he believes the AI companies are possibly leading us into armageddon, and even the end of all humanity by 2030, if they don\u2019t take strong measures to add safeguards. After that, Altman came out publicly and was one of the tech moguls including Elon Musk to agree with that assessment. Chilling.<\/p>\n

\n\tU.S. President Donald Trump, who with his sons is a big investor in AI, pooh-poohed it all, dismissed the idea of government regulation and last week had all the tech moguls to the White House to agree to \u201cself regulation.\u201d His answer was to suggest the only problem was the name, declaring \u201cartificial\u201d would be replaced and the technology now would be called \u201csuperintelligence.\u201d<\/a> Oy.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Gavin Newsom Moves To Lasso AI With \u201cKill Switch\u201d Oversight Executive Order: \u201cWe\u2019re Not Waiting To Act\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWell, here we are, Artificial has just been unveiled, ironically on a day where Altman made more news in an interview with Politico where he stated, \u201cThe world should accept some bad things happening for the the benefits of this technology and people having the agency.\u201d Oh swell. If you ask me, movies can perform a real service in pointing public attention to what, by any measure, seems to be a five-alarm fire waiting to happen. With near-daily developments and revelations of more hacks and rogue AI agents, this no longer is the stuff of science fiction. So how much does Artificial add to the discourse, and how well does it do it?<\/p>\n

\n\tWorking from a screenplay by Simon Rich, Guadagnino makes this all something of a dark comedy that becomes so frightening it is hard to laugh. I see it even as a modern-day Frankenstein, with Altman as Dr. Victor Frankenstein having to deal with the \u201ccreature\u201d he created spiraling dangerously out of control. Actually it wasn\u2019t even Altman who created it, he\u2019s just exploiting it and is the man who saw the genius in Sutskever\u2019s discovery, brought him into the fold, an then in almost sociopathic fashion shaped it into a world-changing idea that to this moment remains a story in progress with an ending no one can predict.<\/p>\n

\n\tBe afraid. Be very afraid. At least that is how I felt after watching Guadagnino\u2019s origin story of how OpenAI and its marquee product, ChatGPT, came to be.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Ben Affleck Used AI For \u201cLots Of Things\u201d In Netflix\u2019s \u2018Animals\u2019: \u201cIt\u2019s A Very Human Movie\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe script is told in linear biopic fashion, almost a Wikipedia-style year-by-year account of developments starting in 2003, when 17-year-old Sutskever (an excellent Yura Borisov<\/a>) comes to the notice of Toronto University professor Geoffrey Hinton (the 2024 Nobel Prize winner for physics who now is regarded as the godfather of AI). Hinton sees Sutskever\u2019s brilliance immediately in cracking code he says took him five years to understand. He is taken under his wing, and as the years pass, the bones of their AI discovery go to auction, raking in millions. Soon, though, Sutskever also catches the eye of Altman and his partner Elon Musk (an amusing Ike Barinholtz, nailing him). He is welcomed into their tech bros circle and clearly the brains behind this revolutionary discovery that at the time he thinks could be 40 years off. But that prediction for changing the world is shortened when they discover this computer program already can think for itself, answer questions and act, well, like a human. Sutskever is a dedicated believer in its potential to end human suffering \u2014 cancer, illness, all our problems. It is, in his eyes, a force only for good. Until\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tOne big moment changes everything when a glitch occurs and the model agent solves a problem by lying about it, creating a scenario that is not true. This is devastating to Sutskever. \u201cI thought AI could be like humans but better, not worse,\u201d he laments. Hinton warns him of consequences unless they are careful, but Altman sees a bigger picture for the nonprofit company, even as some of its supporters fall away including an impatient Musk and Dario Amodei (who would go on to found competitor Anthropic). Microsoft makes a big investment, and when the company\u2019s innovative earth-shaking ChatGPT becomes a sensation Altman changes to goals and goes for profit. This upsets Sutskever, who pursuades the Board to fire him. But Altman finds a way back in, his true nature frighteningly coming clearly into focus.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Bill Gates Warns Unregulated AI Development Could \u201cCause A Billion Deaths\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tAlthough this is in some ways a straightforward approach to the story, it gains its power in the riveting portrayals of Garfield and Borisov. Garfield is stunning here, creating a portrait of a guy who changes his story depending on whoever he happens to be talking to. This is a man who is not the genius behind AI, but someone who recognized it in Sutskever and would do anything to use him for his own questionable actions. Altman\u2019s physicality, vocal intonations and general creepiness are on full display channeled through Garfield for a man who simply should not be trusted or taken for his word. Borisov perfectly encapsulates the true believer, a young man who believes he has discovered the Holy Grail for humanity, one that will come to fruition in lifetime only to be shocked to find it is already here and taking on horrific dimensions.<\/p>\n

\n\tConsidering recent developments about the severe dangers of AI if guardrails are not put up, this movie has scenes that look like they could have been shot yesterday. There are dark warnings of the ultimate fate lying in wait for the human race because of it. This is scarily played in a stomach-churning encounter Sutskever has with a hippie-like character named Zeke (a terrific Jason Schwartzman), who serves as a messenger of what the future could be like in a world that lets this technology go unchecked. He gives two options, neither is good. It is almost uncanny considering the recent warnings from tech heavies including Altman suggesting that human extinction is a 10% possibility by the end of the decade. Artificial looks like it was ripped straight out the headlines and thus stands as perhaps the most important movie you will see this year. After watching this tale play out, I wouldn\u2019t trust anything this man says about imposing safeguards. At one point, someone says, \u201cA visionary is someone who lies to themselves. A liar is someone who lies to others,\u201d and then asks, \u201cWhich one is Altman?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe rest of the large cast is very fine including Monica Barbaro<\/a> as Mira Murati, brought into to become CTO of OpenAI and increasingly worrying about Altman\u2019s actions; Cooper Hoffman<\/a> as Greg Brockman, the loyal president of the company who is in lockstep with his boss; and Rylance, who is the voice of reason and caution, someone from another generation who knows the wisdom of putting on the brakes.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe superb cinematography is from Malik Hassan, working again with Guadagnino after last year\u2019s After the Hunt, and as usual in the director\u2019s films, the music score really pops, this one from Damon Albarn.<\/p>\n

\n\tI have no question as to why Amazon (so invested in what Artificial is ultimately and urgently warning about), would decide to unload this movie. That is the very reason audiences should see it when it opens Christmas Day. Things are moving so fast it may even be too late then to do anything to stop it. At one point in the movie, an AI agent casually asks, \u201cHey did you ever think of just unplugging us?\u201d Then it quickly laughs and says, \u2018Just kidding\u2019.<\/p>\n

\n\tProducers are David Heyman, Jeffrey Clifford, Guadagnino and Jennifer Fox.<\/p>\n

\n\tTitle: Artificial
Festival: New York Film Festival
Distributor: Neon
Release Date: December 25, 2026
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Screenwriter: Simon Rich
Cast: Andrew Garfield<\/a>, Yura Borisov, Cooper Hoffman, Mark Rylance<\/a>, Monica Barbaro, Ike Barinholtz, Jason Schwartzman, Chris O\u2019Dowd, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 2 hr 20 mins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Artificial, which had its world premiere Monday at the New York Film Festival, certainly comes in with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3250,118472,3252,135480,31441,135481,109622,120523,9,14115,11,10,94810,135482],"class_list":["post-365534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-ai","tag-andrew-garfield","tag-artificial","tag-cooper-hoffman","tag-luca-guadagnino","tag-mark-rylance","tag-monica-barbaro","tag-neon","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-film-festival","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nyff","tag-yura-borisov"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}