Alex Gibney’s Musk Documentary Challenges Elon Musk’s Carefully Crafted Image

Elon Musk is a familiar figure to Ars readers, having had an enormous—and often controversial—impact on technology over the past two decades. Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney’s latest biographical documentary, simply titled Musk, covers plenty of high-profile ground while challenging Musk’s carefully constructed public image as a visionary technology giant.

Musk portrays Elon Musk as a modern confidence man

Gibney’s documentary portrays Musk as a Gilded Age confidence man adapted for the 21st century: an investor who presents himself as an inventor. According to the film’s framing, Musk’s real talent lies in driving stock prices higher and dazzling investors and the public with visions of a high-tech, utopian future.

The film is likely to trigger strong reactions from both Musk’s fans and detractors. In that sense, Musk is also a product of the social media-driven era in which we live.

Alex Gibney’s long history of controversial documentaries

Gibney has been making documentaries since the 1980s, covering subjects as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalism, WikiLeaks, Scientology, Steve Jobs, and Elizabeth Holmes—the subject of another upcoming documentary.

His other work includes Everything Is Visible, featuring comedian Nathan Fielder; a documentary about Boris Becker; The Sopranos creator David Chase; the 2016 US presidential election; the opioid epidemic; allegations of Russian interference; and cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Gibney received his first Oscar nomination in 2005 for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature two years later. He also directed Taxi to the Dark Side.

Why Elon Musk was a natural subject for Gibney

Tackling Elon Musk seems like a natural progression from Gibney’s previous work. The director has never shied away from controversy, but Musk generated headlines before its release. Musk criticized the film and threatened a defamation lawsuit. That lawsuit remains unfounded, while rumors have circulated that Universal Pictures is reluctant to release the documentary theatrically in international markets.

Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, Trump, DOGE, and Musk’s personal life

Gibney has no shortage of material. The documentary covers some of the best-known aspects of Musk’s professional and personal life, including deaths linked to Tesla and its driver-assistance systems; SpaceX, Starlink, and Twitter; Musk’s shift from warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence to embracing it; his hug with Trump; the founding of DOGE; allegations of drug use; and his 14—and likely more—children.

Those interviewed include Musk’s ex-wife Justine Musk, Carla Swisher, Martin Eberhard, Geoffrey Hinton, former MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair, who had a child 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,” which incorporates more of Musk’s own words.