“You Can See Everything” review
A true descent into madness
By Nic Longstreet
About two months ago I was scrolling TikTok and I swiped on an advertisement for a movie. I noticed it was eerily quiet. It had two people: a man and a woman. The man I recognized as Nathan Fielder. I had seen different interviews and a Gentleman’s Quarterly Instagram post about him. The woman, I had no idea who she was. She had wide, blue eyes, and was insisting that she was being completely honest with Fielder. They sat in a strange silence, where I could tell Nathan Fielder was trying to see any indication otherwise. Fielder breaks the silence by saying it was a good talk, and the trailer ends.
I see a lot of ads on TikTok, and of course the occasional movie trailer, but this one struck differently. I was instantly hooked. Who was this woman? What had she done to warrant such distrust? The comments gave little answer. It seemed like everyone already knew her, and they were convinced that she was lying. I decided I had to do a little research on my own.
The woman was Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of medical diagnostics company Theranos. She had been on trial for defrauding investors and the United States government. Her company, Theranos, had claimed to have invented technology, called the Edison, that would change the medical diagnostics field dramatically. They claimed they could test blood samples, and provide lab results in a more efficient manner. This resulted in her becoming the youngest self-made female billionaire in 2015. However, after a journalistic investigation in 2015, there was a disastrous fallout, with Holmes and her business and her romantic partner at the time, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani owing $452 million to the victims of the fraud. Holmes was sentenced to 11.25 years in prison.
This is where Nathan Fielder comes in. Directed by Lance Oppenheim, who did “PRIMETIME”, and Fielder, the documentary, titled “You Can See Everything,” begins 34 days before she begins her sentence and spans over three years. The whole documentary crew was crammed inside the San Diego home where Holmes and her partner, William “Billy” Evans, and their two children reside. There’s all the awkwardness of having a camera crew following and documenting their every move, but as the title suggests, that is precisely the point. Still, Holmes and Evans insist they have nothing to hide. Throughout the 34 days, we watch how Holmes is living, with Fielder trying to answer one particular question: did Elizabeth Holmes lie about Theranos?
While watching the movie, there were so many moments where I wondered what the true intentions of Holmes and Evans were. Despite the title, there’s so much that makes you question if you really can see everything, or if it’s all a facade.
While there’s a little apprehensiveness to the cameras, both Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans maintain that the technology that got Holmes the 11-year sentence exists. There are multiple moments where Holmes is asked directly about the legitimacy of Theranos and if she truly meant it when she said that it could run any test, or if it was more of a theoretical possibility. This becomes a major point of friction for Fielder, as he tries to give Holmes a way out, and a chance to alter what it is that she’s so adamantly defending. But her dedication to the idea and what she calls her “truth,” creates room for delusion and uncertainty to grow.
As much as the film focuses on Holmes, Billy Evans becomes a rather central character due to his role in Holmes’ life. What begins as devotion to his partner starts to look strangely like obsession and control. From his role in the formation of their new diagnostics company, which currently denies that Holmes has any role, advising or otherwise, to daily life interactions, he’s very particular about how they operate, both as a family and as business partners. He takes many liberties and makes many questionable decisions on Holmes’s behalf while claiming the connection between him and Elizabeth is exceptionally strong.
Nathan Fielder begins the film innocently enough, with a direct line of questioning and his trademark awkwardness, but his angle quickly becomes less about the authenticity of Theranos and more about trying to uncover and address his suspicions of Holmes and Evans. This brings him into direct conflict with Evans, with multiple conversations turning tense, resulting in mutual distrust. Amanda Seyfried, who appears in the film due to her portrayal of Holmes in the 2022 Hulu miniseries “The Dropout,” asks Fielder if, after the events of the filming process, he can truly be impartial.
Overall, the documentary is well presented, gives insight into the Elizabeth Holmes case and explores what happens when there is so much uncertainty and unknown, between the questions about her innocence and the future that she and Billy Evans have. I left with more questions than answers, which very well may have been the goal of Fielder and Oppenheim. This movie is definitely a contender for one of the best movies of the year, and I’d be surprised if it didn’t win something at the Oscars. It kept me interested from minute one, guessing and wondering if I really saw everything.