Photo Courtesy Of A24

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With many documentaries, you can expect to trust everything you see on the screen. “You Can See Everything” is very different from those documentaries, and really anything else I’ve ever seen. Funny, tense and wildly engaging all the way across its three-hour time span, you will likely leave the theater questioning the very nature of what you just watched, but in no way will you feel cheated out of your time or money. “You Can See Everything” is probably one of the most unique movies of the year, if not the decade. Despite it being a documentary, it almost feels like a narrative feature film (which further adds to that feeling of distrust) and I strongly urge you, even if you have little to no interest in it, to go see it. It is absolutely worth the hype and your time, especially if you engage with it. I went in skeptical and worried that the movie wouldn’t match the praise I’ve been hearing about. Fortunately, it lived up to it and then some.  

For those who were fans of “Primetime” earlier this year and were hoping and wondering how Lance Oppenheim’s manic, maximalist style would transfer into a documentary, you won’t be disappointed. Although “You Can See Everything” isn’t quite as chaotic as “Primetime” was, due to the nature of it being a documentary, Oppenheim still captures his subjects in a suffocating way that really helps the movie to stay engaging and harrowing. There were several moments (with several different subjects) that wouldn’t have been too out of place in a horror movie.  

Oppenheim’s style helps to keep the three-hour-long movie engaging all the way through, and it makes it a treat to watch for the little details.  

Of course, Oppenheim’s efforts wouldn’t mean much if the subjects and the lead weren’t interesting. Fortunately, “You Can See Everything” has a wonderful host to see us through. Nathan Fielder, the documentary’s lead, is very entertaining and insightful as our guide into this illogical world of lies, miscommunication and egg whisking. You can see his comedic chops shine throughout the movie, and he is able to turn uncomfortable or nerve-wracking moments into jokes that had my entire theater laughing. It’s clear he knows what he’s doing and what he’s talking about (up to a certain point in the documentary, that is).   

Speaking of knowledge, I don’t believe you need to know too much about Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos scandal before going into the movie. It doesn’t hurt to know anything if you do, but the movie gives you more than enough information across its run time for you to understand it. I went in only knowing cursory information about the situation and felt more than prepared for the story presented by the movie.   

If you’ve noticed I haven’t spoken too much about the actual plot of the movie itself, that’s not by accident. Throughout its run time, it’ll take you down so many twists and turns that your thoughts on the various people in it will likely change each half hour. It’s a very complex, in-depth look at some seriously troubled people and an attempt to see what makes them tick. It’s a magic trick of a movie, and the magician only reveals his secrets as he does more tricks.   

All in all, I would highly recommend “You Can See Everything” to anyone who’s even slightly interested in seeing it. It is absolutely worth all of the hype, and it really has to be seen to be believed.   

-Colin Fiscus

Elizabeth Holmes was the youngest self-made female billionaire until she was convicted of fraud in connection with her health technology company Theranos. Back in 2022, Holmes, along with her partner Billy Evans, went to A24 asking them to make a documentary telling their story. 

A24 said yes, and they hired Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim to direct the film. Fielder and Oppenheim are both famous in their own way. Fielder is known for other documentaries like “The Rehearsal” where he helps ordinary people prepare for high-stakes life events, difficult conversations or social pressures by building hyper-detailed, life-sized set replicas. Sometimes the line between a controlled experiment and genuine, chaotic human emotion gets blurred as Fielder becomes obsessed with his own social experiments. Oppenheim, on the other hand, is known for “Primetime,” the true story of Chris Hansen, the host of “To Catch a Predator”.

“You Can See Everything” follows Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Billy Evans 34 days before her prison sentence. With this documentary, Fielder and Oppenheim set out to make history, and I think they did it.  

After seeing the movie, I have a lot of thoughts but first let’s start with the positives. This documentary honestly doesn’t feel like one. It feels more like a feature film that just happens to feature real people and tell their story. It feels like a psychological horror thriller, just like Oppenheim’s “Primetime” earlier this year, which was also spectacular.  

There is, however, one thing that I didn’t like about the movie, and that is her partner, Billy Evans. His vibe throughout the documentary was just so off. By the end of it I just lost all respect for him and I hate him. After one scene at about the 20-minute mark, I just don’t care for him at all, but he does look a lot like Jack Quaid, who I love. 

Overall, this documentary made me feel like I didn’t know who to trust in the end. I can’t tell if anyone was telling the truth or not like Elizabeth, for example. I had no idea what was going on, but it was surely entertaining. In the end, I loved it and I will recommend it, especially if it gets nominated for a lot of Oscars, which I think might. It could get nominated for or win Best Picture and Best Director, along with so much more. 

-Hunter Eagan