“Musk,” Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary about Elon Musk, opened in New York and Los Angeles theaters on Friday, with a national run starting October 16. The film scrutinizes the world’s richest man’s businesses and political influence. Musk has already attacked it in public.
Gibney spent four years on the film, according to the Los Angeles Times. Musk declined to be interviewed, so the filmmakers created a computer-generated avatar that speaks words drawn from his interviews and public appearances.
Musk Fights Back
Musk has called Gibney a “bitter old man” and a “horrible human,” the Los Angeles Times reported. His attorney, Alex Spiro, has threatened a defamation lawsuit, NPR reported. Spiro’s letter focuses on an exchange in which Ashley St. Clair, who had a child with Musk, discusses texts he sent her before the 2024 election. It argues the film promotes a debunked conspiracy theory that Starlink satellites uploaded votes for Donald Trump.
Gibney told NPR, “We don’t claim that he changed votes in the 2024 election.” After the Venice premiere, Musk called the film a “hit piece” and “boring,” Variety reported.
How Critics Responded
Variety’s review called the film “a lacerating portrait of technocratic brilliance, power lust and crackpot delusion.” The headline on the New York Times review says the film asks how Musk got so powerful, but that its answers “don’t satisfy.”
Where to Watch
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 8 and later screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bleecker Street holds the domestic theatrical rights.
Musk’s political profile has been a recurring thread in The Eastern Herald’s coverage, including his seat at the table when Xi dined with Musk, Cook and Altman at the White House. More film and culture reporting is in our Entertainment section.
