Musk

Alex Gibney is widely considered one of the most important documentarians of his time, with his past work shedding light on Wikileaks, Scientology, sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church and the use of torture under the Bush administration. The Oscar-winning filmmaker now makes the festival rounds with his latest piece, a four-hour-long investigative account of tech-billionaire-turned-political-kingmaker Elon Musk.

The latter described the film as a hit piece before the project even went into production, and not only refused to be interviewed for it, but threatened anyone who did with legal action. Considering his insurmountable power and eagerness to retaliate (which the documentary chronicles), one has to applaud each and every one brave enough to speak in front of Gibney’s cameras.

The feature certainly doesn’t set out with any bias against him, even as it uncovers sordid details behind his claim to fame. It even tries to honour its subject by including his perspective on certain allegations, be it through past interview footage, tweets or its own particularly devised method.

Musk aims to follow the cohesive visual concept of a simulated world. In the past, Musk has spoken about this Matrix-like theory of our physical reality being an artificial computer simulation by a more advanced society, something he apparently subscribes to and, as a gamer, celebrates. This approach is most effectively realised as interview subjects were filmed in front of a green or grey screen; the background then later animated to look like a natural indoor setting, with occasional flickers and glitches reminding the viewer of the effect.

Certain elements introduced by their narration are presented in the form of video animation. An example would be that his decimation of Twitter’s original staff is visually translated to the elimination of targets in a first-person shooter game.

The most jarring execution of its gimmick is its continued use of an artificially generated likeness of Elon Musk, which is made part of the story. Because of the real figure’s refusal to speak to Gibney, the director’s team gathered previous statements of his and embedded them within this digital composition. It is hardly difficult for an audience willingly submitting to this lengthy dissection of the man to read his tweets or written interview excerpts on screen, so the decision to present them in this form feels entirely unnecessary. Especially since the credits confirm creeping suspicions: “Certain visual images were created using AI.”

While the film rightfully criticises Musk for his 180-degree turn toward artificial intelligence, his subsequent investment and development of the problematic xAI, using the same technology to do so, reads as self-contradictory and borderline hypocritical.

As the documentary goes through stations of his life, it is divided into segments, any number of which could have sufficed to fill a film of its own. Despite its hefty 232 minutes, there are things one wishes the feature had explored in greater depth. Musk’s drug use is a passing footnote, yet the interviews, viewed side by side, suggest a noticeable decline in his cognitive acuity. In return, one almost wishes the film had refrained from addressing Musk’s relationship with his daughter Vivian.

Gibney’s Musk is at its strongest when the seeds it planted throughout start to grow, disparate pieces of information expanding into a bigger picture of corruption and unchecked impulses. The work of gathering these threads and ensuring that people in power are not left unchecked is indispensable, even if the film leaves one wondering how society can ever come back from any of this.

Selina Sondermann

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