A24’s new documentary “You Can See Everything” was released on October 16, and it’s safe to say it deserves all the hype it’s gotten since. The film was directed by Nathan Fielder – his first time directing a feature film – and Lance Oppenheim, known recently for his narrative film directorial debut with “Primetime.”
The film follows infamous Elizabeth Holmes in the last 34 days before her 11-year prison sentence for committing fraud with her company Theranos, alongside her then-boyfriend and business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani. Holmes was sentenced in November 2022 after being found guilty of leading investors to believe she had health technology in her blood-testing device that she didn’t actually have, essentially scamming them out of hundreds of millions of dollars. Through it all, Holmes still claims she is innocent. The events gained a lot of attention from the public, increasing in popularity when Hulu released a biographical miniseries about it with the character of Holmes played by Amanda Seyfried (“Mean Girls,” “Jennifer’s Body,” “Mamma Mia!”).
In mid-2023, when the film opens, Holmes is preparing for her time in jail at a beach house she’s renting with her new romantic/business partner Billy Evans, and their kids. The motives for Holmes and Evans inviting the filmmakers into their house is blurry from the start, though the idea of full transparency is emphasized by both of them during the process.
The film covers many facets of the well-known events of Theranos’ downfall, and how Holmes feels about it at the time of filming, through interviews conducted by Fielder. His willingness to ask uncomfortable questions, along with his deadpan humor and reactions to the ridiculous things he hears and witnesses, makes the interviews incredibly enjoyable to watch. As he tries to get into the minds of Holmes and Evans, so does the audience.
Though Fielder definitely attempts to get into the details of the Theranos incident, he is also caught up in questions about the fact that Holmes is still trying to get a new version of the device up and running – this time with Evans. Despite Holmes being the center of the film, Evans quickly becomes a very interesting individual for both Fielder and the viewers to try to figure out.
About two-thirds into the nearly three-hour film, Holmes arrives at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, with Evans and the couple’s children having relocated to Texas to be near her. While it could be assumed that the film would stop here, since Fielder’s access to Holmes has been cut off, this is not the case.
A time jump situates the film two years later, and an added narrative element plus a few twists turn it into something new and different. Though I won’t go into too much detail, of course, I will say the film becomes more meta and ground-breaking in a way that brings it up a notch and keeps audiences captivated.
Overall, the extremely well-made film is a highly unique and engaging piece of media that everyone needs to experience, but be warned: you will most likely leave the theater knowing even less about who to trust.
Junior Emily Myers is a Copy Editor. Her email is emeyers3@fandm.edu.