Elon Musk, again atop Forbes’ billionaire list and frequently described as vying to be the world’s first trillionaire, remains a polarizing public figure — not only for his wealth but for his shifting politics and provocative statements, including reported support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). His Tesla factory near Berlin drew fresh scrutiny after a March 4 works council election left the plant non-unionized and Germany’s largest union accused Tesla of intimidating workers. Ahead of the vote, Musk warned that union influence could threaten the plant’s expansion, which employs roughly 10,000 people.
Filmmaker Andreas Pichler explores these tensions in his new documentary, Elon Musk Unveiled – The Tesla Experiment, now screening in Germany. Pichler describes Musk as “a declared opponent of any kind of union organization in his companies,” intent on retaining tight control over working conditions and company direction.
The film focuses on Tesla’s push to develop and promote its self-driving systems despite safety warnings from some of the company’s own experts. Through interviews with whistleblowers, former employees who say they were fired after raising concerns, and families of crash victims, the documentary lays out a pattern of internal warnings, alleged suppression, and real-world harm.
One of the featured whistleblowers is Lukasz Krupski, who in 2023 leaked roughly 3,000 customer complaints to the German newspaper Handelsblatt. Those reports described autopilot-equipped Teslas suddenly accelerating or braking, sometimes causing collisions. Krupski says his attempts to resolve the issues internally were met with pressure, threats, harassment and eventual dismissal.
Pichler also follows the Benavides family of Florida, who fought a protracted legal battle after 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon died in a crash involving a Tesla Model S. The family refused a settlement and in 2025 won a landmark federal verdict: the court assigned Tesla 33% liability and ordered $243 million in damages. Tesla’s effort to overturn that decision was rejected by a federal judge in February 2026; the company has said it will appeal. That judgment has encouraged other victims to pursue lawsuits, though many cases remain pending.
Beyond the safety and labor controversies, the documentary probes Musk’s political and personal trajectory — from being a Democratic backer during the Obama era to emerging as a vocal Trump ally — and interrogates his motivations. Pichler highlights what he calls a “messianic” streak in Musk’s rhetoric and the billionaire’s stated mission to build a self-sustaining city of one million people on Mars by 2050. Musk has argued that technologies developed for Tesla, especially AI and autonomy, will be useful for the robots and systems needed for colonization. In that framing, the film suggests, accidents or casualties during development can be rationalized as acceptable trade-offs for a perceived greater good.
The film also examines Musk’s public embrace of transhumanist ideas — merging human consciousness with artificial intelligence to avoid obsolescence — and warns that such grand technological narratives can attract fervent followers while downplaying immediate human costs. Critics interviewed in the film argue that centering visionary goals like Mars or transhumanism risks sidelining worker rights and the safety of people using the company’s products.
Elon Musk Unveiled paints a portrait of unabated ambition with tangible consequences: a company racing toward futuristic objectives while confronting questions about safety, accountability and the human toll of its experiments.
Edited by: Brenda Haas