Despite the lengthy runtime, audiences inside Lido’s famed Palazza del Cinema seemed enraptured in the film, directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, with one person in the crowd shouting “Thank you!” after the applause died down. (The claps and cheers might have lasted longer, but attendees were desperate to stretch their legs and get some fresh air after one of the longer movies at the festival.) Gibney was joined at the premiere by two interview subjects in the documentary, Ashley St. Clair, an influencer who was in a relationship with Musk and gave birth last year to his 13th child, and tech journalist Zoë Schiffer. At a press conference before the premiere, Gibney joked he didn’t set out to make such a long movie.
Gibney, who has investigated corrupt corporations (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), sexual abuse coverups in the Catholic Church (“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God”), Scientology (“Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Disbelief”) and alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election (“Agents of Chaos”), started working on his Musk documentary — which his subject has called “a hit piece” sight unseen — in 2023. In a director’s statement, Gibney described “Musk” as reframing “the story of the tech titan as the 21st century reincarnation of the confidence man.” Although Musk didn’t participate in the documentary, he appears in the film through AI as an uncanny video game-like avatar alongside real interviews with his first wife, Justine Musk; his father, Errol Musk; Geoffrey Hinton, the “godfather of AI”; Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard; LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and more. Clair was present at the doc’s Venice press conference earlier on Tuesday, telling journalists that because she refused to sign a $40 million NDA after giving birth to Musk’s 13th child last year, she was able to be interviewed for the film.
Musk’s public profile and statements have driven major valuation boosts in companies like Tesla and SpaceX, but Gibney argues his claims are often out of sync with facts or evidence. A prime example of this is his involvement in Telsa, for which he is the largest investor and shareholder — but not the founder. Tesla’s real co-founder, Martin Eberhard, sits for an interview in the film and laments that most people seem to think Musk created the company.
The doc also dives deep into Tesla’s AutoPilot feature, which it says has sparked over 60 deaths and subsequent lawsuits. Gibney argues that because Musk touted the cars as “self-driving” on social media and in public appearances, many took that as the truth, when in reality they were meant to be driven with some assistance. Actual footage from an accident that resulted in a fatality is shown in the doc, including the 911 call and video from the police and the car’s own cameras.
This is just one example of Musk “telling people the future has arrived when it hasn’t,” as the doc puts it, and the dangerous impact that can have. Musk’s “Occupy Mars” initiative isn’t too different. The doc debunks his claim that people will be able to live on the red planet in a self-sustaining city in 20 years.
In fact, as the film points out, Mars would be incredibly difficult for humans to survive on due to its lack of oxygen and high radiation — and these are not problems likely to be solved soon. As the doc asserts, Musk is selling sci-fi dreams, teasing possibilities without knowing the real answers. The doc features interviews with Justine Musk, Elon’s first wife and mother to five of his children, as well as St.
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