A new four-hour documentary about Elon Musk aims to go beyond the billionaire's public image to study the person behind one of the most important technology companies and the growing political influence he has gained in recent years.
The film, directed by award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney, premiered at the Venice Film Festival and will subsequently be split into two two-hour episodes for broadcast on HBO. Production took about three years and was initially intended to study the world's richest person. However, during filming, Musk's trajectory took on increasingly clear political characteristics, especially after his rapprochement with Donald Trump.
Gibney himself admitted that he did not initially plan to make a film about Musk; he thought it would just be another documentary about a powerful and morally ambiguous person. His perspective changed when the opportunity arose to present the story as a portrait of power in the 21st century.
In the director's view, the combination of financial might, innovation, and data allowed this new type of personality to accumulate influence that was previously the prerogative of national states alone. After the premiere in Venice, Musk began publishing attacks against the production. Gibney noted that the billionaire reacted more systematically than other subjects in his documentaries, using lawyers and a network of automated accounts.
For Gibney, confronting Musk means clashing with a person who possesses immense financial power, proximity to the White House, and exceptional influence over the space sector. Part of the film revisits well-known events from the billionaire's biography but offers a different interpretation of some of them.
One of the episodes examined is the story of the fourth SpaceX launch following three consecutive failures. The traditional narrative presents this flight as a decisive moment where Musk could go bankrupt if the rocket failed to lift off. However, the documentary argues that this version is a myth, as NASA had already pledged billions of dollars in funding regardless of the outcome of that launch.
The film also touches upon Musk's relationship with Tesla and questions some elements that contributed to shaping his image as a visionary engineer. Another episode is dedicated to Tesla's driver assistance system. The documentary shows footage of an accident where the vehicle crosses an intersection and hits a parked car, killing a woman lying nearby. The production also questions how the company might have handled data related to this accident.
The production also delves into less known aspects of the billionaire's personal life. Justine Musk, Elon's first wife, speaks about how people in the businessman's circle approached the mothers of his children and described a kind of 'assembly line' for having children.
The documentary also features the account of Ashley St Clair, who gave birth to a child with Musk. According to her, a representative of the billionaire prompted her to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for payments of $40 million (approximately 214 million Brazilian reais) for the child's upkeep. In a voice message presented in the film, she was allegedly warned that things were not going well for women who decided to sue Musk.
One of Musk's central arguments is that the billionaire's political turn was also motivated by personal and business interests. According to the film, Musk and his companies have been the subject of at least 32 investigations conducted by 11 state bodies. In this context, the rapprochement with Trump is presented as part of a strategy to protect his business.
Musk allocated $300 million (approximately 1.6 billion reais) to Trump's presidential campaign in 2024, and subsequently joined the government, heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). His time in government lasted only a few months, but during this period, Musk participated in deep cuts to USAID and US foreign aid.
For Gibney, these relationships formed a kind of symbiosis: Musk had the money to help preserve Trump's power, and Trump had the power to protect Musk's financial interests.
Examining Project Justifications
The documentary also explores the justification Musk often provides for his projects. The billionaire repeatedly states that his actions are aimed at expanding humanity's presence beyond Earth and preserving the so-called 'light of consciousness' even in the face of possible planetary destruction. Gibney questions how sincere or convenient this concept is.
The director compares Musk to steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, who died in 1919. In Gibney's opinion, both share the belief that they are in an exceptional position to save civilization. This notion, the filmmaker asserts, also serves as a justification for accumulating wealth and power: if someone believes they are working for a higher purpose, their own interests can be presented as part of a greater mission.
The documentary does not ignore Musk's achievements. Gibney acknowledges that the companies associated with the billionaire have created important technologies, mentioning Starlink satellites, SpaceX rockets, and Tesla cars themselves. The problem, in his view, lies in the gap between these achievements and some of the promises made by Musk. Examples include the promise of fully autonomous vehicles, the idea of establishing a human population on Mars within a decade, robots for every home, and even data centers located in space.
For Gibney, it is precisely this combination of concrete achievements and promises that helps explain Musk's financial power. 'It's a lie that allows him to make money,' the director concludes, summarizing his interpretation that Musk has developed an exceptional talent for convincing the market to fund projects based on promises that are not always fulfilled.
The image presented by the documentary also portrays Musk as an increasingly aggressive person. The billionaire has moved from speeches about saving humanity to manifestations increasingly focused on defending European and American civilization against an alleged 'invasion.' The film also highlights Musk's support for the German far-right party AfD and his participation in events related to British activist Tommy Robinson. Meanwhile, Musk spends hours attacking real and imaginary opponents—and recently, Gibney himself, reports The New World Substack.
After three years of trying to understand the billionaire, the director came to a very harsh conclusion. An investor from Silicon Valley, interviewed confidentially, described Musk as 'the loneliest man I knew.' For Gibney, the combination of wealth and power seems not to have brought happiness. On the contrary, the documentary concludes with the suggestion that behind the image of a billionaire capable of transforming entire sectors of the economy hides a deeply unhappy person.