Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, is one of the people interviewed in “Musk,” the new Alex Gibney documentary that opens in select New York and Los Angeles theaters on Friday, October 9. Variety lists him among the people interviewed, alongside Elon’s first wife, Justine Musk, and Ashley St. Clair, whom Variety describes as the mother of one of his children. Elon himself did not take part.
What is known about the film
TheWrap reports that distributor Bleecker Street moved the release up a week. Bleecker Street’s release page lists select theaters in Los Angeles and New York on October 9 and a nationwide release on October 16. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September and runs close to four hours, including an intermission.
Gibney said at Venice that he first tried to interview Musk but was turned down, Variety reported. In Elon’s place, the film uses a computer-generated version of him that speaks lines from his past public statements.
What Errol says
The reviews we have read do not quote Errol directly, so we are not going to guess what he says. Slant reports that Gibney did get him to sit for an interview and that the film briefly explores Elon’s childhood in South Africa.
Musk’s reaction
Elon has called the film “a hit piece that misses, and makes the fatal sin of being boring for 4 hours” in posts on X. Variety does not say whether he has seen it. TheWrap adds that his lawyer, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Gibney’s production company before release disputing an insinuation in the film.
Our take: with no interview from Elon, the film leans on the people around him, and a father, a first wife and the mother of one of his children each have their own history with him. That makes it one version of the story, not a verdict. Errol has spoken about his son before, including saying in 2022 that he was not proud of him, which we covered in Errol Musk Said He Is Not Proud of Elon. What he says on screen is worth hearing in full before drawing conclusions from clips. For more on the family background, see How Much of Elon Musk’s Story Is Really Self-Made?
