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So, the reality is that data just doesn’t sit in our mind as much as stories do.

# Review

This is a documentary about the Theranos fraud, where the startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes knowingly tested dysfunctional blood testing devices on the unknowing public and defrauded investors, business partners, and regulators.

The film extensively interviewed the people involved, such as the former employees at Theranos, including the whistleblowers Tyler Shultz and Erika Cheung. The film also used extensive footage of Elizabeth Holmes in her various media appearances. I had just read Bad Blood so it was interesting to have a visual on everything described in the book.

The film was focused mainly on Holmes and less on Sunny; I liked how the film tried to provide commentary on Holmes’ incentives for committing these acts. The film featured an interview with (ironically fraudulent) behavioural economist Dan Ariely, who cited an interesting study in which people felt less guilty about lying when they felt they were being altruistic. The film also offered some analysis on how Theranos was able to trick people despite the data which contradicts what the company was claiming (people buy more into stories than data).

# Conclusion

A decent documentary if you don't want to read the book.

# Overall rating: 7.1

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