MoviePass, MovieCrash is a true crime doc for the CNBC set
the true crime that's worth your time
Watching MoviePass, MovieCrash, you suddenly get a clearer idea of why stories of startup shenanigans are such an obvious candidate for dramatic adaptation. Shows like The Dropout and WeCrashed, with their boldfaced cast list and freedom to elide timelines, characters, and facts, make complicated business issues accessible. If coverage of alleged financial crimes and fiscal scams are the healthy and satisfying broccoli of the true crime world, these star-studded adaptations are broccoli loaded with bacon and cheese. They go down so easily you don't even notice the veggie at the center of the dish.
But there's nothing wrong with broccoli, just as there's nothing wrong with MoviePass, MovieCrash. It's a straightforward documentary about the creation, rise, and spectacular fall of MoviePass, a company that — similar to the other startups I have already mentioned — seemed too good to be true, with 2017-era promises to customers of unlimited in-theater movie tickets for $9.99 a month. As the company struggled to fulfill that improbable offer, it allegedly resorted to fraudulent practices. In recent years, one exec has been convicted of embezzlement and its CEOs have been charged with securities fraud. Their rescheduled trial is expected to begin some time this year.
You probably knew all those details from a basic consumption of headlines over the last few years. So your interest in this film, which makes its debut on HBO and Max on May 29, might hinge partly on how much else you care to learn about the case. Stories about Silicon Valley bullshit are not for everyone, nor are docs about boardroom machinations.
If you've had it with "founders," apps, millionaires, and/or the stock market, I get it! If your preferred flavor of true crime veers more toward the intensely human dramas of homicides or cults, you're going to want to pass this bowl of broccoli on down the table. No judgement here.
That's not to say there isn't human drama with MoviePass, MovieCrash. In fact, I'll argue that if all you know about the company's rise and fall are those basic details above, there's plenty in this doc to surprise you. Well, wait, surprise is probably the wrong word: if you're "surprised" that a promising app founded by two Black men (Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, both of whom are prominently featured in the doc and who participated in its film fest promotions) ended up led by two white men ("with a certain about of grey hair," as one former employee puts it) who drove it into the ground, you've been asleep for the last couple forevers.
And if you're "surprised" that those same guys allegedly inflated their credentials and ignored the many folks who told them they were fucking up to an allegedly criminal degree, you're a sweet summer flower and I wish I was you. I truly do.
Even a scan of MoviePass's Wikipedia page is enough to glass over anyone's eyes, with a labyrinthine timeline of cash infusions, business pivots, and boardroom shakeups. The doc does a great job of making these details hang together in an easy to follow way, with enough talking heads and reactions to let you know how ludicrous, careless, and arguably criminal and racist many of the corporate decisions seemed to be. It's very, very thorough, which is pleasing if you're so into process that you find The Profit too fictionalized. But it can feel like homework if you're not like that, or if you're just looking for something to pop on while you're doing chores.
It's also very pleasing if you prefer a documentary where everyone, even the alleged assholes, get plenty of time to speak their piece. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises — and most interesting aspects — of MoviePass, MovieCrash is the significant involvement of Mitch Lowe, the company's under-indictment former CEO. Footage of this interviews with the filmmakers, sandwiched with his comments on various financial interview shows, tells quite a story. The federal prosecutors assigned to his trial should probably send director Muta'Ali Muhammad a thank you note.
Muhammad's painstaking approach makes MoviePass, MovieCrash a rigorously-reported and conscientious piece of reporting, but I can't lie — that care can make it a slog. He allows hot-button issues like the Fyre-fest level delusion the company's eventual leadership had play out without too much commentary. The racial element of the founders' dismissals is carefully handled, as well, perhaps too carefully.
If there were a licensing committee for startups or VCs, I'd want it to make viewing of MoviePass, MovieCrash a requirement, but I don't know if it's required viewing for someone looking for a crime-based ride on a Friday night. For that, I'd wait for the inevitable dramatic adaptation. If there's any justice in the world, Muta'Ali Muhammad will get the right of first refusal to direct that, too.