Review: Ben McKenzie is No Crypto Bro in His Eye-Opening Doc ‘Everyone is Lying to You For Money’

Based on his best-selling book Easy Money, writer/director Ben McKenzie explains the cult of crypto in Everyone is Lying to You for Money. 

Like his OC alter ego Ryan Atwood, actor-turned-director Ben McKenzie proves he’s both brains and muscle — using this influence to highlight the misinformation of cryptocurrency in his fascinating documentary Everyone is Lying to You for Money.

In a Q&A following a screening of the film at the Miami Film Festival, McKenzie cited his interest in “stupid” true crime stories, the ones that make you scratch your head as to how people fell for something.

After taking bad financial advice himself, McKenzie wanted to warn people of the potential downfalls of crypto. It’s basically a Ponzi scheme designed for very few people to make a lot of money and a lot of people to lose. In a gotcha Nalvany-esque moment, McKenzie even interviews FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried before his crypto-trading company goes belly up and the  “altruistic” billionaire ends up in jail. Bankman-Fried quakes with every question (it could be because the director is sipping from an intimidating Fraud Detector coffee mug he bought on Etsy).

McKenzie is a compelling filmmaker who doesn’t take himself too seriously and really has a fun style. In the opening of the film, he hoodwinks the audience with a laugh-out-loud bait-and-switch. Actress Morena Baccarin also appears in the doc as his real-life long-suffering wife, watching him venture down the crypto rabbit hole. As one of Hollywood’s quietest relationships, it’s a rare glimpse behind their romance, family life, and what makes them work.

“I like the potential of what’s coming,” says one of the many crypto victims who claims he still believes in the currency even after losing everything.

This statement gets to the heart of what fueled the crypto craze to begin with: gambling and the feeling that you’re in on something before everyone else.

It’s no surprise that most of the victims are men, whose reactions range from embarrassment to tears (even McKenzie cries with them). One wishes the doc would have delved into the crypto bro culture a bit more, but that might be a different film. Maybe these victims shouldn’t keep dabbling in crypto, but McKenzie should definitely keep making movies.

Everyone is Lying to You for Money is in select theaters starting April 17.