REVIEW: ‘Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean’ is a Revealing Look

In one way or another, the creation of the DeLorean automobile has had a huge impact on pop culture. The vehicle that would be infused with time travel technology and launch Back to the Future as an iconic film leading it to become a global symbol of style. With the sleek design, and awesome gull wing doors, I mean, it was like nothing else on the market that was affordable. That, however, is only a footnote in the problematic history of this automotive company and its enigmatic CEO. Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean is a Netflix original docu-series directed and produced by Mike Connolly.

Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean documents the rise and fall of the charismatic, and ultimately manipulative president of the DeLorean Motor Company. The man who was a rising starlet at his prior employment would go on and attempt to reinvent the motor vehicle industry. Major change takes time and determination; however, neither of which John DeLorean had the patience for. And ultimately, the shortcuts he took led to a company in ruins and the FBI sniffing at his heels.

The docu-series translates the life of John DeLorean with an interesting format. Episode 1 “Making of a Maverick” highlights the meteoric rise from executive to company owner and really digs into what the public saw. This was a man who accepted nothing but the best and really appeared to want to unsettle the automotive industry. DeLorean didn’t just want success though, he wanted all of the fame as well.

This first episode struggles a little early on as the show has no narrative audio guide. The format is led by intermittent text on the screen with facts about the time period. Or, through one-on one-sessions with people familiar and close to the situation. As the episode develops, you start to get a better sense of the tone and the direction. You also start to get sucked into the illusion that John DeLorean was trying to create. Illusions like bringing his automotive factory to the war-torn country of Northern Island to invest in its people as employees.

In Episode 2 “Bombs, Bullets, and Bullsh*t,” you see the DeLorean car company hit some real telling obstacles. The search for a location for their factory landed them in Belfast during the late 1970s, during a highly volatile time in Northern Ireland as the IRA was setting bombs off in the streets to seek independence from the UK government. It was peak civil unrest, and DeLorean swooped in to take advantage of this situation by appearing as the white knight bringing jobs, whilst knowing the government wouldn’t look too far into his books to see that investment into his company was highly risky.

About this time in the series is where you start to get a sense of the man, as the episode flashes between production events in Northern Ireland and John DeLorean’s past and family. You finally move into the last episode, “Busted,” and you see how it all falls apart at the seams. You see how some of the vision, the dream that was being peddled, was just manufactured—held together by duck tape. DeLorean himself had built this from the ground up, but he had no intention of running it or maintaining it.

The series really dives in on all sides of the man that was John DeLorean. He was the embodiment of the dark side of the American dream. Get rich quick and sacrifice it all in the pursuit of money. Behind him, however, he left a trail of pain.

Overall, Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean, weaves a tangled web of deceit, greed, and the American dream by any means necessary. The docu-series is a gritty look into a man who believed himself to David, as he attempted to slay his Goliath in the automotive industry. While a little slow to start and find its feet, once it settled down this is a captivating and enthralling story of the rise and fall of the golden boy of the 70s and 80s, John DeLorean.

Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean is available exclusively to stream on Netflix July 30, 2021.