"The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley" (2019 release; 120 min.) is a documentary about the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her biotech company Theranos. As the movie opens, we are in 2014, at the peak of the company's might and moving into spectacular new headquarters in Palo Alto. The voice over informs us that "within 4 years, the company would go from being valued at $10 billion to less than zero. This is a cautionary tale." We then are introduced to Holmes' background, what an over-achiever she always was, and eventually leading her to drop out of Stanford at age 20, and instead use the tuition money as seed money for Theranos, which Holmes envisioned as providing low-cost access to blood testing. As the company grow, staff is enthused, female employees see Holmes as a hero, and publications like Fortune and inc. provide glowing coverage. But the company isn struggling with he manufacture of its Edison testing kit... At this point we're 15 min. into the movie, and you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Alex Gibney, whose 2013 "The Armstrong Lie" is just one of his many outstanding films. Here he looks at Holmes and Theranos. Can the two be separated? It'd be difficult to do so, as it almost feels like Holmes built a cult of personality within Theranos. When a company grows so spectacularly and then implodes with an even greater bang, it always makes for fascinating viewing/reading/studying. Gibney seems to have gone all out in interviewing the relevant characters, including journalists and ex-employees. And then there is former Secretary George Schultz, now in his 90s, and still going strong. He introduces Holmes to his grandson, who ends up working at Theranos and see it all go wrong. Wow. The movie also benefits from the inclusion of the interview of a behavioral economist, who puts it all into context. At the beginning we are told this is a cautionary tale, and that it certainly is, but it's a lot more than just that.
"The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley" recently premiered on HBO and I finally watched it on demand the other night. I have a soft sport for non-fiction in general, including in films and in books. As soon as I saw the name Alex Gibney associated with this, I was pretty sure that this would be worth checking out, and I was right. If you love documentaries, I'd readily suggest you check it out, be it on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
