Last Sunday, the Telluride Film Festival hosted a surprise screening that has shaken up the film world: 'You Can See Everything,' the documentary that the prestigious production company A24 had kept secret for years. The film, co-directed by Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder and filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, closely follows Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, in the months leading up to and following her imprisonment for fraud. No one knew of its existence until the screening began.
The nearly three-hour film presents an intimate and unsettling portrait of one of Silicon Valley's most controversial figures. According to the official synopsis, Holmes invited a skeptical film crew to document his every move during the 34 days leading up to his imprisonment, a journey that unfolds over three years and into the abyss. A24 has released a trailer to coincide with the premiere, showing Fielder questioning Holmes about his sincerity, eliciting responses that many have described as disturbing.
The return of a case that marked Silicon Valley
Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos with the promise of revolutionizing blood testing with a single drop, attracting investment from figures like Rupert Murdoch and Larry Ellison. The company reached a valuation of $9.000 billion, and Forbes named her the youngest and richest self-made woman in the United States. However, in 2015, a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that the technology was unreliable and that most tests were still being performed using traditional equipment.
In 2022, Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud and conspiracy against investors, though she was acquitted of charges related to patients. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison and, since May 2023, has been serving her sentence in a federal prison in Texas. Her release date is scheduled for 2032, although it was revealed earlier this year that she had requested early release. This is not the first time her story has been portrayed on screen: the miniseries 'The Dropout' (2022), starring Amanda Seyfried, won an Emmy, and the documentary 'The Inventor' (2019), by Alex Gibney, also covered the case.
Unprecedented access and a troubling question
What sets 'You Can See Everything' apart from other productions is the level of access Fielder and Oppenheim gained. According to Vanity Fair, Fielder even lived with Holmes and her husband Billy Evans during filming, and the documentary includes domestic conversations, visits to warehouses with Theranos equipment, and Holmes's reaction to seeing clips of 'The Dropout'. Critics point out that the documentary doesn't offer a clear conclusion, but rather places the responsibility on the viewer to decide whether Holmes is telling the truth.
In the trailer, Holmes insists she has nothing to hide and is always truthful, while Fielder directly asks her if she's lying. The tense exchange has generated a wave of reactions on social media. Attendees at the Telluride screening had to put their phones in sealed bags, and the security team used night-vision goggles to prevent leaks. A level of secrecy only A24 could achieve.
Nathan Fielder, known for his series 'Nathan for You' and 'The Rehearsal', brings his unique style of blurring the line between reality and fiction. Oppenheim, meanwhile, is premiering 'Primetime', his first feature film starring Robert Pattinson, this week in Venice. In the Q&A following the screening, moderated by Emma Stone, Fielder admitted that he still doesn't understand why Holmes wanted to participate in the project: "To this day, I still have a lot of difficulty understanding exactly what I experienced," he confessed.
What is Holmes trying to achieve with this documentary?
The film also raises questions about Holmes and Evans's motivations for granting such broad access just before the conviction. Some critics suggest they sought to control the narrative and demonstrate that Theranos's public version was incomplete. Holmes herself has denied lying and maintains that the project was legitimate, a position the documentary neither confirms nor denies. In fact, the synopsis describes a "mind-bending three-year journey to the brink ," and the second half of the film introduces revelations that critics prefer not to spoil.
The film will premiere in US theaters this October, though A24 has yet to confirm a European release date. Those interested in Spain will have to wait, but given the buzz, it's likely to arrive on streaming platforms soon. Meanwhile, the trailer continues to generate discussion, with comments like, "Are they going to nominate Elizabeth Holmes for Best Actress?" and "I've never felt so uncomfortable in my life."
With 'You Can See Everything', A24 once again demonstrates its ability to generate hype with a surprise release. The film doesn't aim to be a definitive investigation, but rather an extended immersion into the strange relationship between a filmmaker and his subject. In the end, the viewer is left with the same question as Fielder: how much of what Holmes says is true? The answer, like the documentary itself, remains elusive.