Documentary
United States of America
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is a documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, which premiered on HBO in March 2019. The film chronicles the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her biotech company, Theranos, which promised to revolutionize blood testing with a device that could perform hundreds of tests with just a few drops of blood.
Holmes dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to found Theranos and soon became a media darling, gracing the cover of magazines and earning comparisons to the likes of Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison. The company raised billions of dollars from investors, including prominent figures like Rupert Murdoch and Betsy DeVos, and was valued at $10 billion at its peak.
However, as the film reveals, there was more flash than substance to Theranos' claims. The device, called the Edison, often produced inaccurate results, and the company secretly used traditional blood testing machines for the majority of its tests. When investigative journalist John Carreyrou of The Wall Street Journal began delving into Theranos' operations, it set off a chain of events that ultimately led to the company's downfall.
The film features interviews with former Theranos employees, investors, and journalists, including Carreyrou himself, along with footage of Holmes presenting at conferences and giving interviews. The Inventor offers a cautionary tale about the dangers of hype and the allure of charismatic leaders and showcases the power of investigative journalism in exposing fraud.
