HBO’s Theranos Documentary About Silicon Valley Con-Artist Elizabeth Holmes Had People Absolutely Riveted

Monday night saw the HBO debut of The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, the film from award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney that premiered at Sundance earlier this year about the health care startup Theranos, which claimed to have plans for a miracle blood test that could be performed using only trace amounts of blood samples. Instead, the company turned out to be a massive fraud that cheated investors out of billions and billions of dollars.

At the center of this maelstrom was by then-19-year-old entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, who dropped out of Stanford in 2004 and used her tuition money to fund Theranos. By adapting a false persona based on Apple founder Steve Jobs, often dressing in black turtlenecks and giving her voice a deep, gravely affect, Holmes pulled the wool over the eyes of rich, powerful men such as Bill Clinton, Rupert Murdoch, Henry Kissinger, and Larry Ellison.

Although Holmes, (along with her business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani) seemingly did have good intentions, the technology simply was not there and by taking their product to the market too soon they risked endangering real lives. Likewise, the entangled web of lives resulted in the company’s chief scientist, Ian Gibbons, to eventually commit suicide.

Yet, the story of how one young woman was able to dupe some of the biggest players in Silicon Valley left people gobsmacked. As such many took to Twitter to crack jokes and express disbelief with the whole thing.

— Pixelated Boat: The Junior Novelization (@pixelatedboat) March 19, 2019

i still believe in theranos because i don't think henry kissinger would steer us wrong

— andy levy (@andylevy) March 19, 2019

the theranos doc is wild but i dont believe her excuse for wearing the same outfit for efficiency’s sake when she clearly has time to do that whackass eyeliner. that is all

— Sarah Emerson (@SarahNEmerson) March 19, 2019

I truly don’t understand how anyone was taken in by the Theranos pitch! even if it worked: as a person who deals with doctors and blood draws fairly regularly, needles aren’t my big healthcare worry, cost is

— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) March 19, 2019

The funniest part of the Theranos documentary is Henry Kissinger repeatedly trying and failing to use speakerphone. Like he should probably be in prison, but I will take the embarrassments where I can find them

— Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt) March 19, 2019

me every time a Theranos news cycle hits pic.twitter.com/SAmXqZyI2W

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) March 18, 2019

I still kind of don’t get how Theranos was supposed to change the world, to be honest I’ve had many blood tests in my life, and yeah, they suck and are exhausting, but I feel like there are a LOT of other things that I would fix in the medical field before that

— Mara “Get Rid of the Nazis” Wilson (@MaraWilson) March 19, 2019

if q were doing any real work, they'd claim theranos was framed because the finger-sticks would interrupt the clinton blood harvest

— Jukt Microdicks (@Mobute) March 19, 2019

My review of the Theranos documentary on HBO: Holmes and Zuckerberg are def from the same alien planet.

— Summer Anne Burton (@summeranne) March 19, 2019

This Theranos documentary on HBO is unbelievable. I hope Elizabeth Holmes never gets a second act in Silicon Valley because I think she might be a psychopath.

— Mike Rundle (@flyosity) March 19, 2019

Thanatos: The death instinct, especially as expressed in violent aggression.

Theranos: Blood testing start-up that—when mentioned—elicits violent reactions on the Internet. https://t.co/FyJgupYaJq

— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) March 19, 2019

Many mocked Holmes’ bizarre, fake voice:

BOYFRIEND: Maybe later

ME: *Elizabeth Holmes voice*

CLEAN THE KITCHEN PLEASE

[boyfriend grabs sponge and 409]#TheInventor

— Cooper Lawrence (@CooperLawrence) March 19, 2019

Honestly would've watched a whole doc just about Elizabeth Holmes fucking voice lol

— Jia Tolentino (@jiatolentino) March 19, 2019

two seconds into the theranos documentary and chris screams IS THAT HER REAL SPEAKING VOICE

— amy brown (@arb) March 19, 2019

You know Elizabeth Holmes is a sociopath because I would have lasted about two seconds before laughing doing a fake baritone voice and that bitch did it for years.

— Desi (@DesiJed) March 19, 2019

Please enjoy my perfect impression of Elizabeth Holmes #TheInventor #Theranos pic.twitter.com/pX1IhFT6zR

— Jacob (@aesopslut) March 19, 2019

And others were just fascinated by venture capital investor Tim Draper’s Bitcoin tie:

— maya kosoff (@mekosoff) March 19, 2019

Tim Draper wearing a bitcoin tie during his interview for the Theranos documentary is perfect.

— Myles Udland (@MylesUdland) March 19, 2019

[billy joel uptown girl voice]

BITCOIN TIE

— rae paoletta (@PAYOLETTER) March 19, 2019

They have a very subtle Bitcoin tie. Seems legit. pic.twitter.com/oDDrkOQLdg

— Laura Fisher (@laurajaselle) March 19, 2019

there are many reasons to watch HBO's Theranos documentary and among them is Tim Draper in a bitcoin tie https://t.co/52MMHeLQ9h pic.twitter.com/twRQw6PXbW

— Damian Garde (@damiangarde) March 8, 2019

Holmes and Balwani currently face up to 20 years in prison on wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Her story will be portrayed in a big-screen drama by Adam McKay starring Jennifer Lawrence, with a yet to be announced premiere date.