The characters in Huang’s film all have one thing in common: they can describe what working at Vice felt like, but not what it all meant. Cool is ephemeral. If you try to define it, to sell it, it disintegrates.

What passes for inquiry here is closer to rough research. Vice Is Broke is momentarily compelling but hollow in the end, much like Vice when the hype inevitably died down.

For those endlessly fascinated by the fall of the Vice magazine turned media empire (that’s me), here’s another deep dive.

Vice is Broke is compelling, but ultimately a disappointment.