# Gibney's Musk doc splits into two films

> Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary presents Elon Musk as a confidence man rather than a visionary, but struggles with its own structure.
- Title: Gibney's Musk doc splits into two films · Ars Technica
- Summary: Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary presents Elon Musk as a confidence man rather than a visionary, but struggles with its own…
- Keywords: alex gibney, elon musk, documentary, musk, film review, bleecker street, tesla, spacex, twitter acquisition, technology, science, Gibney's
- Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/10/review-4-hour-musk-documentary-feels-like-two-different-films
- Published: 2026-10-11T18:10:54+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: alex gibney, elon musk, documentary, musk, film review, bleecker street, tesla, spacex, twitter acquisition, technology, science
## Gibney takes on Musk
Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney has made a four-hour biographical documentary simply titled Musk that challenges the public image of Elon Musk as a visionary tech titan.
## Musk as confidence man
Gibney presents Musk as a Gilded Age confidence man for the twenty-first century: an investor pretending to be an inventor whose real talent is pumping stocks and dazzling investors.
## Gibney's track record
Gibney has been making documentaries since the nineteen eighties covering Jimi Hendrix, WikiLeaks, Scientology, Steve Jobs, Elizabeth Holmes, Lance Armstrong and the opioid epidemic.
## Musk threatens lawsuit
Before release, Musk drew the ire of its subject and threats of a defamation lawsuit. There were unfounded rumors that Universal Pictures was getting cold feet about theatrically releasing the film internationally.
## Extensive coverage
The film covers Tesla and fatalities linked to its driver-assistance systems, SpaceX, Starlink, Musk's Twitter purchase, his shift on AI, his embrace of Trump, the creation of DOGE, alleged drug use and his fourteen possibly…
## Two films in one
The documentary feels like two very different films.The first half focuses on Musk's early entrepreneurial years with archival footage and interviews.
## HBO asked for more
Gibney finished the documentary in twenty twenty-four but HBO asked him to keep going to document Musk's heel turn.
## AI Musk stands in
Musk declined to be interviewed for the film, so Gibney created an AI version of Musk uttering verbatim public quotes as a stand-in.
## Portrait of corruption
Gibney portrays Musk as a tragic anti-hero corrupted by wealth and power, what Gibney calls noble cause corruption.

> noble cause corruption
## Musk opens October fourteenth
Musk is now playing in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles. It will open broadly across the United States on October fourteen, twenty twenty-six.
## Key takeaway

Alex Gibney's four-hour Musk documentary portrays him as a Gilded Age confidence man rather than a tech visionary, but the film feels like two separate movies spliced together.