Elizabeth Holmes’ dream is that “less people have to say goodbye too soon to people they love.” She reveals this aspiration in the new trailer for “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” an HBO documentary about Holmes, her $9-billion blood-testing company, and the lies that led to its creation and destruction.
It’s hard to argue with Holmes’ — and by extension, Theranos’ — overall ideology. She wanted to streamline blood tests, making them more affordable and accessible and less painful and disruptive. So she came up with an at-home blood test that purported to require only a drop of blood.
“She was going to herald a revolution in medical treatment in this country,” an interviewee says in the trailer. “She could do no wrong — she was the next Steve Jobs,” another character adds.
Turns out Holmes’ vision was too good to be true. The “lab in a box” idea is “impossible, physically.” Holmes repeatedly lied about the tests’ accuracy and managed to raise $400 million in investments with false claims. Meanwhile, Theranos was spying on its employees and taking great pains to hide the specifics of its work from the rest of the world.
With Holmes and her company, “it comes back to ‘fake it until you make it,'” we’re told.
“The Inventor” is directed by Alex Gibney (“Going Clear”) and will premiere on HBO March 18. Jennifer Lawrence is attached to star as Holmes in “Bad Blood,” based on John Carreyrou’s exposé “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in Silicon Valley.” Oscar-nominated “Shape of Water” screenwriter Vanessa Taylor will pen the script.
