Diractors is an ongoing series in which Hassle writer Jack Draper examines films, new and old, whose directors are better known for their work in front of the camera.
Oh, look at me, I’m Ben McKenzie! I’m incredibly charming and handsome! I’m a successful and beloved TV actor! I’m married to the beautiful Morena Baccarin! I’ve got a loving family! I’m a talented outspoken critic of the fraudulent nature of cryptocurrency, both in book and now documentary form! I can be unproblematic and use my privilege for good! Look at me!
It is through no fault of McKenzie, nor the direction of his debut documentary, that he might seem holier than thou while speaking to a patient audience. Nor is his anger misguided, as in other movies seeing injustice in contemporary America and the capitalist system working overtime to become more unbalanced, like, say, Adam McKay or Michael Moore. Instead, McKenzie’s Everyone is Lying to You for Money (why isn’t this titled the same as his book, Easy Money?) goes out of its way to make the economic circumstances legible, helped by McKenzie’s own progression in unraveling what’s going on for himself so that he can clearly explain to us. Filmed over four years and through the height of the cryptocurrency boom, there’s a satisfaction in watching the timeline McKenzie sets out, from an old friend telling him about crypto on a Zoom call to exploring the people infatuated with it, to being mystified by the people on the top, and even testifying in front of congress. Prior to Money, I only knew Ben as the righteous guy on Twitter who’s super anti-crypto– and, of course, as Ryan Atwood from The OC.
In a great running bit, many of the interviewees in Money share the same amusement as the audience: Why is Ryan from The OC making a doc about crypto, and why is he a more aggressive interviewer than most media pundits? It’s one thing to see actors shill products or push back against the world’s harmful advances, but McKenzie reaches the next step, wearing this more investigative side with ease. McKenzie received a degree in economics from the University of Virginia right before starting on The OC, and he comes from a family of professors and educated people. This education grants McKenzie an impressive degree of clarity as he explains the severity of crypto’s impact on the financial world, and the fact that this is all just really stupid.
Still, I’d be curious to see who McKenzie is actually able to convert toward realizing crypto is wasteful and ineffective, versus simply ragebaiting the crypto tech bros as a means to stir the pot. McKenzie knows the pro-crypto people are out there, and he can confidently say he has the better digital footprint. We see a number of these people on camera, sitting in a gaming chair with the same attitude of the future is here, embrace it that has been embraced by the pro-AI crowd. Instead, McKenzie sees a better future, one where the people in power are so deeply blind to see how this is a scam instead of the shiny new toy. In one scene, he goes to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has declared crypto the new currency to assist his people out of inequality. Instead, it doesn’t work, and nobody takes interest in using it. Then there’s the Sam Bankman-Fried interview, one of the best scenes of the year, in which his Robin Hood-like persona comes crumbling down when he can’t even recall the politicians he’s donated to.
The film is capped off by McKenzie testifying in front of congress with credible evidence that crypto is a scam. He’s listened to, then swiftly ignored– increasingly a raw and depressing motif in his debut doc. Even at this large of a stage, he can assure everyone’s weariness is justified beyond the typical capitalistic gain. It’s simply the truest example of a world in decline when we tell people that the only way you can have enough money for retirement is if you essentially gamble it away. McKenzie commands authority over this, both through his likability as a celebrity and his passion for economics, just maybe surpassing Matt Damon’s power and willingness to shill the latest tech. That ad specifically looms large, getting under McKenzie’s skin when he can’t believe someone could spend their time to push this as a net positive. It’s also nice to see his wife, actor Morena Baccarin, saying things like, “Are you jealous of him because he’s more famous than you?” The true strength of Money, however, lies in how McKenzie is able to legibly tell the story of crypto in real time– even when ghouls like Kevin O’Leary are still hanging on for relevancy.
Everyone is Lying to You for Money
2026
dir. Ben McKenzie
90 min.
