Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial — a biopic of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that was once abandoned by Amazon MGM, has found its footing at the New York Film Festival, where it premiered on Monday to a wave of acclaim. The film, which follows Altman’s tumultuous 2023 ousting and rapid reinstatement at the company, is now set for a December 25 theatrical release under Neon, the distributor that stepped in after Amazon pulled out in June. That decision, made just days before the planned rollout, sparked immediate speculation about potential conflicts between tech giants and their entertainment arms, particularly given Amazon’s ongoing investment in OpenAI. Netflix and Focus Features had also reportedly dropped interest before Neon acquired the $40 million project two weeks later. 

Now, with the film finally in front of audiences, early reactions are intense. Critics are calling it a ‘pitch-perfect dark comedy’ about the absence of responsibility in the face of apocalyptic certainty. Andrew Garfield, who plays Altman, is described as embodying the role with chilling precision. Walking a line between movie monster, buffoonish mogul, and evil genius. One reviewer noted the film captures the paradox at its core: a man whose ambition could save, or end. The world. Yura Borisov co-stars as Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief scientific officer, while Ike Barinholtz appears as Elon Musk, stealing scenes with his performance. 

The tone is far from neutral. Artificial is being framed as a visceral corporate drama, one that guts Silicon Valley with an obsessive pulse. Some call it a feverish, almost operatic tragedy driven by human desire to race toward an inevitable end. The script, written by Simon Rich, mixes humor and horror, with shots deliberately echoing the tension of Silence of the Lambs. Damon Albarn’s score, described as Bowie-esque. Adds to the unease. One critic said the film proves what is truly artificial wasn’t in the machines, but in the boardroom. Another called it a sledgehammer of a warning, more acutely aware of our expiration date than any other film this year. 

There are caveats. A few reviewers noted the film loses momentum toward the end, and the tonal shifts don’t always land. But even those who found flaws still labeled it essential, a major achievement, a reworking of The Social Network for a world already past its tipping point. With AI dominating headlines daily, Artificial arrives not as fiction, but as a reckoning dressed as cinema. And if the buzz holds, it may be one of the most talked-about films of the awards season. 

December 25 isn’t just a release date anymore. It’s a deadline for reckoning.