Elon Musk is a very familiar figure to Ars readers, given his enormous influence (for better or worse) in the technology sector over the last 20 years. The latest biographical documentary from Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney, simply titled Musk— covers many well-known topics and challenges Musk’s carefully crafted public image as a visionary tech titan.
Gibney’s documentary presents Musk rather as a Gilded Age confidence man, redesigned for the 21st century: an investor disguised as an inventor whose true genius is to boost stocks and dazzle investors and the public alike with visions of a utopian high-tech future. The film is sure to hit all the right outrage buttons, whether you’re a Musk fan or detractor, making it very much a product of the peculiar social media-driven era we live in.
Gibney has been making documentaries since the 1980s, covering topics as varied as Jimi Hendrix, Hunter S. Thompson and gonzo journalism, WikiLeaks, Scientology, Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes (the subject of another upcoming documentary, You can see everythingwith comedian Nathan Fielder), Boris Becker, The Sopranos creator David Chase, alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election, the opioid epidemic and cyclist Lance Armstrong. He got his first Oscar nomination in 2005. Enron: the smartest guys in the roomand won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature two years later for Taxi to the dark side.
Addressing the topic of Elon Musk seems a natural progression from those previous works. Gibney has never been one to shy away from controversy, but even before Musk’s release, the film drew the subject’s ire and threats of a defamation lawsuit. There were even rumors (still unfounded) that Universal Pictures was resisting the film’s release in international markets.
There’s certainly no shortage of material for Gibney to work with, and the film covers the most well-known aspects of Musk’s life: Tesla and the deaths related to its driver assistance systems, SpaceX, Starlink, his purchase of Twitter, his move from warning about the risks of AI to fully embracing it with Grok, his embrace of Trump, the creation of DOGE, his alleged drug use, and his 14 (possibly more) children. Interviewees include ex-wife Justine Musk, Kara Swisher, Martin Eberhard, Geoffrey Hinton, former MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair (who had a son with Musk), Cory Doctorow, Adam Becker and Sam Harris. David Byrne co-wrote and performed an original song for the soundtrack, “Let Me Sell You a Dream,” incorporating more of Musk’s words.
