Is YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING a Real Documentary? Yes. (Spoilers at the end)

If you’re watching YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING, then you know that Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of fraud for her company, Theranos, and is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence, in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitutions. That’s what one should keep in mind when watching this documentary: she was convicted. Of fraud. You can read all about it, the straight dope, in the book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. You can also watch the dramatized series, The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried, on Hulu.

But the important part is this: specifically, she defrauded not only vulnerable patients, but also scientists, and business investors.

So if you’re coming into Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder’s documentary, in which Elizabeth Holmes is supposed to “show you everything,” expecting to get a straight story… why would you do that? She’s a criminal, master manipulator.

What is Nathan Fielder's new documentary about?

Nathan Fielder co-directed the documentary, You Can See Everything. He’s also the host of the shows Nathan for You and The Rehearsal, which blur the line of fiction and reality, to say the least. If I had to class them, I’d call them prank shows, although there is definitely more nuance than the genre allows. (Lance Oppenheim most recently took on the true crime genre in his film Primetime.)

That said, the viewer should know who they’re dealing with. Given these two actors—yeah, I went there: Elizabeth Holmes and Nathan Fielder are both acting out personae—why would anyone expect a traditionally formatted documentary?

Does Elizabeth Holmes play herself in You Can See Everything?

Yes. She sure does. She is so herself. I’m not a film documentarian, but I am a creative nonfiction/true crime author. For that reason, I say You Can See Everything is a documentary in the same way that Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is a work of nonfiction.

It’s creative, and that’s the prerogative of the author, or in this case, the documentary crew. They have creative control.

People might expect documentarians to be objective, but come on. Anyone willing to spend enough time on/with a subject is gonna have an opinion. So, if you think any human being can tell any story objectively, you need to reassess your position.

And, without spoiling anything--By the way, if you’re going to see this movie, do it ASAP so it doesn’t get spoiled. Without spoiling anything, everyone who is not the subject of the film, meaning, everyone except Elizabeth Holmes and her family—is a part of the documentary’s crew.

As the creators, the documentarians are also manipulating the story.

Hang on, though: for there to even be a true narrative story, there must be manipulation. You know that. Life doesn’t play out in tidy narratives. We give true events their shape.

The difference is, you expect documentarians to be honest. That’s what they’ve agreed to do, by making a documentary instead of a dramatization. That’s the contract: the viewer trusts the documentary crew not to lie to them.

But when the subject of the documentary is notoriously slippery… that proves a real challenge.

SPOILERS START HERE.

You might be thinking: how can one spoil a documentary? Well I’m about to do it. So if you haven’t seen the film yet, and you plan to see it, stop reading right here.

I mean it.

The first half of You Can See Everything is a documentary in the truest sense, and the turn happens when Elizabeth Holmes surrenders herself to prison. That happens about 90 minutes in.

So I thought, okay, how are we going to keep this going? She’s in prison. Can’t record in prison, right? And so far, I have no new information—except that her husband is deplorable.

Courtesy of A24.

Again, does Elizabeth Holmes play herself in You Can See Everything?

Let me revisit this question: yes, she does. For the first half. And then, because Elizabeth and her husband Billy orchestrated so many important plot points to happen when the cameras weren’t rolling, there are also dramatized reenactments.

Played by Amanda Seyfried, the same actor who played the character of Elizabeth Holmes in the dramatic series, The Dropout. It’s a beautiful workaround, and the film does an excellent job of explaining why the quotes they’re about to use aren’t coming directly from Elizabeth.

One of them happened in the prison, where filming was not allowed.

Another happened before any contracts were signed, which is another big question viewers are asking:

Does Elizabeth Holmes make money from You Can See Everything?

Short answer: no. Elizabeth Holmes did not make money from You Can See Everything.

Nathan Fielder says in You Can See Everything that the subjects of documentaries do not earn money on the back end. It would skew the footage, and it would look bad for the movie. I have learned since viewing that this is not the standard: families of documentary subjects, at least, often earn royalties on the back end. Here, though, profits from this documentary might fall under profits from criminal acts—which people are not usually allowed to legally keep. (Granted, the doc is not a crime; criminal acts are the topic of discussion in it.) Anyway.

According to the film, after a weird meeting with A24 execs at Elizabeth Holmes’ house, she left to check on her kids. And then Billy demanded royalties as part of the deal.

But, the narrative is so manipulated—we’re supposed to believe (or not) that she had no idea Billy was negotiating for money?

When Nathan Fielder pushes the issue (which he is so good at doing. He never just lets a bullshit answer stand), Holmes says she doesn’t know, and “Our finances are completely separate.” She tried to back up this argument by saying she owes hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitutions.

But Fielder says, “Come on… you have two kids together….”

Remember what I said at the top: Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of fraud for her company, Theranos, and is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence, in addition to owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitutions. That’s what one should keep in mind when watching this documentary: she was convicted. Of fraud.

She knew. Of course she knew. And even though it seems like Billy is the real monster—creating a deepfake of her likeness to use however he wants without consulting her, holding power of attorney over her, impersonating her on Twitter/X—she’s smart. She allowed it to happen. I mean, he is a monster, but he is also her newest Fall Guy. The 34 days leading up to her prison sentence were full of wheeling and dealing for a Theranos 2.0. She’s about to do the same thing again.

Don’t let her hook you. Elizabeth Holmes is a very gifted storyteller and a very convincing speaker. Listen to Amanda, however scripted her role was. I’m actually okay with it being entirely scripted because, as a member of the documentary crew, who is a professional actor, why should we expect anything different? And if it was scripted, how does it matter?

You Can See Everything is as honest a representation—of a con artist—as anyone could expect, even with the dramatic license used.

That’s the thing about criminals: you’re never going to get the straight story from them. And the idea that you ever will is delusional.

You Can See Everything releases in U.S. theaters on Friday, October 13.

If this story stuck with you, then you might also enjoy these…

—What is the Point of PRIMETIME? (the film by Lance Oppenheim)
—If you love Anthony Bourdain’s books, then you’ll love TONY, the new biopic movie origin story
—Is Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY Movie Really That Good? Yes, Explained