The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

I am a huge Alex Gibney fan. Imo he is the most important documentary filmmaker working today (that I know of at least) and I try to see everything he does. Despite that, I have not given all of his films high marks, but this one scores in every way. Gibney is great at looking at the dark side of the American Dreamworld - the egomaniacs, the cracked visionaries, those with an unquenchable lust for power. Blood testing entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes is a perfect subject for him. With her baritone voice, big blue eyes, Steve Jobs black turtlenecks, and self-possessed demeanor, she is an archetypal figure, pursuing her impossible dream to the point of disaster for herself and many others. Despite all the harm she did, she does not come across as completely horrible. I had the feeling that, at the beginning at least, she probably meant well, but got in over her head. She was/is a marketing genius, but she wanted to be a scientific one.

At this point in his career, Gibney can make docs like this in his sleep. It's a solid, stately movie that is largely carried by its bonkers source material.