Artificial is a highly effective statement to society, urging us to look up from our screens and take action [...] Brutal, terrifying, but necessary.
Written by Nandita Joshi
The widespread availability and integration of generative AI is inescapable. Since ChatGPT's launch into the public domain in 2022, our world has unequivocally changed, with customer service workforces being replaced by AI chatbots, people turning to AI for human connection, and even Google's search engine defaulting to AI overview rather than actual website results. Luca Guadagnino's Artificial chillingly unpicks the how and why through the eyes of prolific and lesser-known innovators of our time.
Almost everyone has at least heard the name Sam Altman (Andrew Garfield, The Social Network), the face of OpenAI, but there are very few who know Ilya Sutskever (Yura Borisov, Anora), who was the man behind major technological breakthroughs in the machine learning space. The film hopes to change that, challenging our preconceived notions of how this story came about and the unimaginable power that tech giants wield.
Down to his pointed voice and distinct walk, Garfield becomes completely unrecognisable as Altman in a performance that can only be described as unnerving and calculated. The subtle, intentional inflection changes during line delivery crawl under your skin, sending shivers of discomfort down your spine. Prickly, cruel and manipulative, but it is precisely what Garfield is going for, making the film as spine-chilling as it is.
After his breakout role as Igor in Academy Award-winning Best Picture Anora (2024), Borisov continues to prove that he is an actor you need to pay attention to. He brings a naïvity to the hyper-intelligent, socially confounded software engineer, acting as the moral compass that the narrative uses to steer from. He carries Ilya on a troublesome, devastating arc echoing what we see in coming-of-age films.
A Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name) film cannot be complete without waves of seduction. Working alongside cinematographer Malik Hassan Sayeed (After the Hunt), they concoct stylish, sexy yet dread-inducing imagery throughout. Intense close-ups that beguilingly draw you in then creepily overstay their welcome, paired with the stomach-turning, slow-rotating tilted shots, leave you nauseous. You can tell the duo purposely shot the film, taking heavy inspiration from the horror genre.
Damon Albarn's score only adds to the fear. While the majority of the time, we hear electric techno-style beats keeping the pace punchy, a sobering, uncomfortable motif lingers around phrases in the unsettling dialogue that were thrown out in conversations, acknowledging to us the terror behind these people's casual callousness. Such a subtle yet clever creative choice that leaves you squirming in your seat.
The biggest gripe that could persist in films about technology is the incoherent scientific ramblings that do not make sense to anyone who works within the respective field. Thankfully, writer Simon Rich ensures computer talk is all legit with the help of science consultant Francesco Vaccarino. The right balance is struck between factual detail and accessibility, creating a more thoughtful and believable insight into the world of computer scientists.
There is a heavy weight of urgency attached to the film, one that resembles the likes of Oppenheimer (2023). Only the world we live in already reckons with the impact of the atomic bomb, but with Artificial, we are still living through the dangerously historic events. Rich's screenplay is no cautionary tale, but rather a large, blaring siren in our faces to push for safer, regulated advancements in AI.
In a race to the top that sacrifices our privacy, safety and environment, Guadagnino and Rich call for a pause and reflection for our well-being. If the smartest people in the room who are ringing the alarm bells can be easily manipulated in the name of greed and wealth, we live in disastrously bleak times.
Artificial is a highly effective statement to society, urging us to look up from our screens and take action. Garfield and Borisov powerfully reflect this mirror of what is happening in real time to us, forcing us to pay attention. Brutal, terrifying, but necessary.
Artificial had its international premiere at the London Film Festival and will be released in theatres on December 25 in the U.S.
You put into words exactly what I was feeling and more while watching the film! Amazing acting from Andrew Garfield
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