AI film Artificial is the talking point of 2026. Here’s why
Artificial film review and star rating: ★★★★★ It isn’t typically a film’s duty to push a political agenda, but with Artificial, the biopic of OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, there is a clear call to action. It is inevitable that people will ask: ‘What can this film do?’ Luca Guadagnino’s eleventh film is a particularly disturbing [...]
AI film Artificial is the hot topic of 2026. This biopic of OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman poses a clear call to action, leaving viewers to ponder its implications. Directed by Luca Guadagnino, Artificial offers a particularly unsettling portrayal of AI, focusing on Sam Altman, the man behind the 2022 launch of Chat GPT, which sparked an intense competition involving Grok, Gemini, and Claude.
Some top scientists have warned that these powerful systems could pose a threat to humanity by the end of the 2020s, making Artificial feel alarmingly accurate in 2026.
Gareth Garfield delivers a mesmerizing and unnerving portrayal of Altman, capturing his frenetic energy and elusive humanity with a peculiar, cocksure demeanor. Guadagnino conveys Altman's emotional complexity through dreamlike sequences involving Altman and Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's chief scientist, who initially developed the technology but later cautioned against its unethical consequences.
One scene shows Altman and Sutskever hiking through San Francisco hills, the camera blurring during Altman's rambling thoughts, highlighting his emotional distance.
Elon Musk, portrayed by Ike Barinholtz, offers a campy and humorous take on the Grok founder, who worked closely with Altman during the early days of Chat GPT. While Barinholtz's impression is just close enough to the real person to work, his farcical portrayal brings some light relief to the film. Writer Simon Rich, who based much of Artificial on conversations with a friend who works at OpenAI, effectively writes in the voices of these influential figures, with the physical impressions adding an extra layer of depth to the narrative.
The film effectively captures the complex relationship between Altman and Ilya Sutskever, whose friendship is as compelling as the potential heartbreak explored in Luhrmann’s Call Me By Your Name. Mark Rylance delivers a magnificent performance as the moral compass of the story, principled academic Geoffrey Hinton, who warns against the dangers of AI gaining sentience.
Rogue AI agents from OpenAI already threaten online security, causing Wikipedia to temporarily go down, while the UK's AI minister warns of an inevitable attack on the country.
Artificial is poised to be the most talked-about film of 2027, released in UK cinemas on January 22nd. The film offers a rare and intimate look at the charismatic and terrifying figures at the forefront of the AI revolution.
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