Review: ‘You Can See Everything’, but nothing is clear

Warning: This review contains spoilers for “You Can See Everything.”

One thing a reader should understand about a film review is that its purpose is to help potential audiences decide whether or not they want to see it.

In the case of “You Can See Everything,” let’s save everyone some time–go see it.

Truly, that is the only way for a viewer to decide how they feel about this film.

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary runs nearly three hours, and every minute is riveting. It follows the final days of Elizabeth Holmes’ family life before she surrendered at Federal Prison Camp Bryan to begin an 11-year sentence.

**Filmmaker Nathan Fielder stayed in the family home of Elizabeth Holmes and Billy Evans to film the documentary.** IMDB

Holmes was convicted in 2022 on three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud investors in her $9 billion company, Theranos. As CEO and inventor of the Edison, she claimed that her machine would be able to run “any test” normally performed in a lab, with only a prick of blood instead of test tubes.

She attracted retired military generals, companies such as Cox Enterprises, and wealthy venture capitalists to invest in her idea, despite not holding a single medical or engineering degree.

Holmes has stuck to the story that her invention works with a tenacity that either betrays complete sociopathy or true, undying self-delusion. After seeing the documentary, I am leaning more toward the former, but still have no idea.

Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans, approached Fielder’s documentary crew about the project, asserting that they wanted the world to see “the real Liz” after she had allegedly been misrepresented in the media.

Fittingly, the film starts with a long-close-up shot of Evans’ face as he details why this film was important to make.

This simple shot carries themes that continue through the whole movie. The camera style is intimate throughout, creating the feeling of really being in the room with the subjects; it goes on at length about the fairness of “Lizzie’s” representation; and it focuses on Evans.

If Holmes is living in a world of her own, it becomes immediately apparent that so is her husband. Seeing the way he interacts with others is frankly chilling.

Evans is narcissistic, controlling and becomes paranoid throughout the film, later revealing that he thinks people are stalking him and that he “keeps a gun on him 24/7.”

This makes Fielder one of the best possible interviewers to handle him. Fielder’s trademark is a disregard of social norms, politeness and typical emotions, along with an ability to call out inconsistencies.

**A doe-eyed Holmes gives the impression of absolute sincerity.** SCREENRANT

Holmes greets Fielder’s awkwardness with an excess of warmth and famously direct eye contact. She appears to reel him in throughout the film until he could even be seen as defending her.

I didn’t hear a direct “yes” or “no” answer from Holmes throughout the hours of interviews. When she was asked if she knew simple facts, even ones that had nothing to do with her conviction, she would always give a vague reply like, “I don’t know, maybe, I don’t remember.”

Is she incredibly manipulative, skilled and inviting others to project their ideas and desires onto her? Or does she really have that tenuous of a grasp on reality?

The first half of the film shows Holmes outside of prison, enjoying time with her two children and soliciting people to either report her story fairly or invest in her new company, a partnership with Evans that is similar in its premise to Theranos.

After she surrenders and begins her sentence, Fielder brings in an unexpected character–Amanda Seyfried, the actress who portrayed her in the Hulu dramatization, “The Dropout.”

Seyfried is the perfect addition to this film. She offers a fresh and surprisingly down-to-earth perspective on the person whose life she studied.

**Amanda Seyfried helps create the film through interviews and reenactments.** BRITANNICA

She and Fielder quickly begin an investigation into the bizarre dynamic between Holmes and Evans, who appear completely obsessed with each other and even seem to have rehearsed lines to recite separately for the cameras.

Confronted with the actress and documentarian, Evans guiltlessly shares that he has been posing as Holmes on X and making business decisions without consulting her. He says that he knows what she wants, even without asking. And when Fielder manages to break through Evans’ power of attorney and speak to Holmes in prison, she wholeheartedly agrees.

Parts of the film were definitely funny, another trademark of Fielder’s productions. The sold-out theater was cackling throughout the whole film, making it feel as though the audience was in on a private joke, even at moments that I found more uncomfortable and disturbing.

But at a certain point, the discomfort became undeniable and the theater went silent.

The chatter instead filled the halls after the film ended, with strangers discussing the “twist” of Seyfried showing up and the confusion and shock they were left with.

The conversation has continued on the Internet, as the film has broken records and achieved near-perfect scores on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. Some have even pronounced it “the best film of all time.”

While the medium of film is too enormous for any one work to be considered the best ever, this was a groundbreaking documentary that only this specific crew could have pulled off.