You Can See Everything: A tonal deconstruction of modern documentary filmmaking
Infamous convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos and once hailed the next Steve Jobs, has been through the media ringer for the past decade or so. John Carreyrou’s book “Bad Blood” detailed the unthinkable con of revolutionary medical technology that never actually … worked. Then came the ABC podcast “The Dropout”, one of the most popular limited podcast series of all time, which was later adapted into Hulu’s original limited series of the same name, starring Amanda Seyfried as the thousand-yard-stare-having former CEO. And now, You Can See Everything, a quasi-documentary helmed by neuro-divergent extraordinaire Nathan Fielder (e.g.,Nathan for You, and The Rehearsal), paired with the squirmy direction of Lance Oppenheim (Primetime), is a tonal deconstruction of documentary filmmaking.
Yes, that’s a lot of already-made media about how we perceive Elizabeth Holmes, yet You Can See Everything is something that will have you questioning your entire existence, along with how we romanticize the lives of people we simply don’t know based on scripted accounts. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experiment that could only work with Fielder as a rat being dropped inside the cage with a mountain lion: the deadpan mastermind versus the seemingly delusional or genius master manipulator.
Now, I almost want you to just stop reading here and buy a ticket, as it’s nearly impossible to talk about this movie in depth without diving into the specifics and structure of this monument. The filmmakers even shared a pre-show message at my advance screening, imploring viewers to write about it with a very general sense of criticism.
The first hour or so of the film follows a fairly simple documentary structure: some brief background regarding our subject (although it never treads into oversharing), our setting, and the days leading up to Elizabeth’s impending surrender to a federal prison in Texas. Fielder and Co. have been invited by the subject to document the real Liz (her assumed magic-eraser-of-a-pseudonym), along with her narcissistic husband, Billy Evans, with whom she shares two small children. The interactions between the trio are so strange that they’ll have you questioning your entire livelihood. Somehow, seeing everything still isn’t enough, even within the intimidating, nearly three-hour runtime. I could’ve sat there for eight hours.
Once Liz goes to prison, this is where the documentary begins to shift into something unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It becomes a total indictment of the media that has always surrounded the story of Theranos. Doing my best not to spoil it, the film starts to completely deconstruct the genre we think we’re living in, exploring the idea that popular forms of consumption, like a TV series or a bestselling account, can become the end-all-be-all record of real people’s lives.
“You Can See Everything” is a tightly and expertly shot diagnosis of how truth is something that can be bent and monetized for further growth. Fielder is someone who has always been most in control of his projects, yet this is the first time I’ve ever seen him begin to slowly crack into this dark abyss, filled with uncanny and deeply strange interactions with the human psyche.
It’s a triumphant, center-of-culture piece of art. Just buy the ticket.
YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING is now playing in theaters.
Locally: Regal Riviera, 510 South Gay Street
Regal Cinebarre West Town Mall
Regal Pinnacle, 11240 Parkside Drive
Wyatt Allison can be found on Twitter/X @wyattartsknox and on Letterboxd @filmwyatt.
