KEY POINT
“You Can See Everything” had its surprise world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Sunday.
The three-hour documentary follows Elizabeth Holmes through an unusual filmmaking process involving comedian Nathan Fielder.
A24 is scheduled to release the film theatrically on Oct. 16.
TELLURIDE, Colo. A new documentary about Elizabeth Holmes has taken an unconventional route to the screen, combining extended conversations, intimate filming and re-created scenes to examine the former Theranos founder’s life before and during her prison sentence.
Titled “You Can See Everything,” the three-hour film was directed by Lance Oppenheim, with comedian Nathan Fielder becoming a central figure in the project. Its world premiere took place during the Telluride Film Festival in a secret screening Sunday, with the film’s presence not disclosed to attendees until they were inside the screening.
The project began shortly before Holmes reported to prison to serve an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors. She had invited a camera crew into her rented Southern California home in an apparent effort to present her side of the story, choosing Fielder and Oppenheim to document her life.
What began as a conventional documentary setup changed considerably during production. Fielder initially expected to remain behind the camera alongside Oppenheim, but his interactions with Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, became increasingly unusual and ultimately placed him directly into the story.
The documentary relies heavily on prolonged conversations between Fielder and Holmes, filmed through extreme close-ups. The filmmakers also use re-creations for events that could not be captured through conventional interviews.
One particularly unusual element involved Fielder moving into Holmes’ home two weeks before she entered prison. His presence allowed the filmmakers to record situations that would normally remain outside the reach of an interview-based documentary.
Fielder said after the Telluride screening that he continued to question his own role in what unfolded. He also explained that the filmmakers repeatedly gave Holmes and Evans opportunities to stop filming.
The director’s experience became an important part of the finished film because the production team struggled to establish a shared understanding of events taking place inside the house.
Holmes founded Theranos, a medical testing company whose claims about blood-testing technology attracted major attention before deceptive claims were exposed by The Wall Street Journal in 2015.
The company’s collapse led to criminal proceedings against Holmes. Her prison sentence provides the immediate setting for the documentary, but the film also introduces a new development concerning her plans with Evans.
According to the documentary, Holmes and Evans are planning to launch what they describe as a “new and improved Theranos” while Holmes is serving her sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas.
Holmes has already been the subject of several major screen projects. The documentaries “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” and “Valley of Hype: The Culture That Built Elizabeth Holmes” examined different aspects of her rise and the culture surrounding Theranos.
Her story was also dramatized in Hulu’s “The Dropout,” starring Amanda Seyfried. Unlike those earlier productions, Holmes did not participate in those accounts.
Her participation in the new documentary therefore represents a significant difference in how her story reaches audiences, with the filmmakers given direct access to her and Evans during a pivotal period.
Another thread in the film concerns a May 2023 New York Times profile titled “Liz Holmes Wants You to Forget About Elizabeth.”
Holmes and Evans challenge how Holmes was quoted in that article. The documentary addresses the dispute directly, while The New York Times stands by its reporting.
Fielder says he contacted the article’s author, Amy Chozick, during the filmmaking process. Chozick also maintained that the reporting was accurate.
The film’s approach places Fielder not simply in the role of interviewer but inside the documentary’s events. His involvement grew from an initial behind-the-camera position into a central on-screen presence as the production developed.
Oppenheim, whose previous work includes “Some Kind of Heaven,” about Florida’s Villages, directed the project. His forthcoming fiction feature “Primetime” is also connected to the “To Catch a Predator” concept.
The result is a documentary that uses access to Holmes’ private environment as part of its storytelling rather than relying solely on retrospective interviews.
“You Can See Everything” will receive its theatrical release through A24 on Oct. 16.
The Telluride premiere gives audiences their first public look at the finished three-hour documentary, while its upcoming theatrical release will bring the film to a wider audience.
Who is featured in “You Can See Everything”?
The documentary centers on Elizabeth Holmes, with Nathan Fielder playing a major role in the film alongside Holmes and Billy Evans.
When did the documentary premiere?
It had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival during a secret screening on Sunday.
When will “You Can See Everything” be released?
A24 is scheduled to release the documentary theatrically on Oct. 16.
