Key facts
- Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary "Musk" covers Elon Musk's influence on the tech sector.
- The film challenges Musk's public image, portraying him as a confidence man rather than a visionary inventor.
- The documentary is divided into two parts: the first focusing on early entrepreneurial years and the second on his post-Twitter purchase era.
- Gibney used an AI version of Musk, created from public quotes, as a stand-in for an interview.
- The film is currently playing in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles, with a broader US release on October 14, 2026.
Alex Gibney's new four-hour documentary, "Musk," offers a critical examination of the influential tech figure Elon Musk. The film, released on October 11, 2026, challenges Musk's carefully cultivated image as a visionary inventor, instead presenting him as a 21st-century iteration of a Gilded Age confidence man who excels at promoting stocks and dazzling the public with utopian technological visions.
The documentary covers well-known aspects of Musk's career, including his involvement with Tesla and its driver-assistance systems, SpaceX, Starlink, his acquisition of Twitter, his evolving stance on AI and the development of Grok, his support for Donald Trump, the creation of DOGE, and his personal life, including his numerous children. Gibney, known for his documentaries on controversial subjects, has never shied away from controversy, and "Musk" has already drawn criticism from its subject, including threats of a defamation lawsuit.
"Musk" is structured into two distinct halves. The first part delves into Musk's early entrepreneurial endeavors, utilizing archival footage and interviews to humanize him and explore his background. The second half shifts focus to Musk's activities following his purchase of Twitter and his alignment with Donald Trump. This latter portion adopts a more adversarial tone, reflecting Gibney's directorial approach, which often features a strong point of view.
Gibney revealed that the film was initially completed in 2024 but was extended by HBO to include Musk's more recent actions, contributing to its nearly four-hour runtime. As Musk declined to be interviewed, Gibney employed an AI-generated avatar of Musk, constructed from public quotes, to represent him in the film. While conceptually fitting for a story about AI, the execution of the AI avatar is described as unsettling and less compelling than actual archival footage.
The film portrays Musk as a complex figure, oscillating between tragic anti-hero, con artist, and idealistic dreamer corrupted by wealth and power, a phenomenon Gibney terms "noble cause corruption." However, the documentary is criticized for its incomplete portrait and for shedding insufficient light on the reasons behind Musk's perceived "dark path." The review suggests that even an interview with Musk might not have yielded deeper self-reflection from a subject described as detached from reality.
"Musk" is currently screening in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles, with a wider US release scheduled for October 14, 2026.