The short version
- Filmed over 34 days before Holmes began her sentence, the documentary features absurdist comedian Nathan Fielder directing alongside Lance Oppenheim.
- Experts note the film highlights the bizarre duality of Holmes's persona, contrasting her pleasant private demeanor with her calculated public performance.
- The project is described as Oscar-tipped and reality-bending, exploring the legacy of a fraud that captivated Silicon Valley investors.
A new documentary titled 'You Can See Everything' has premiered in the United States, offering an unprecedented look at Elizabeth Holmes during the final weeks before she reported to federal prison. Directed by absurdist comedian Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the film was shot over a 34-day period immediately preceding Holmes’s departure for the Bryan Unit in Texas, where she is set to serve an 11-year sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy.
The project distinguishes itself from previous media coverage by placing Holmes directly in front of Fielder, known for his deadpan, surreal comedic style. This approach creates a reality-bending dynamic that critics are already labeling as Oscar-tipped. Rather than relying solely on archival footage or third-party interviews, the film forces an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the convicted entrepreneur and a director whose work often blurs the lines between performance and reality.
The central mystery of Holmes’s identity remains a focal point of the documentary. David Agus, a medical oncologist who encountered Holmes at a health conference, described a jarring shift in her demeanor. He recalled meeting a personable and pleasant woman in the green room, only to interview someone entirely different on stage. The transition involved a distinct change in accent to a deep, serious voice, creating the impression that two separate individuals were present.
Holmes cultivated a highly specific persona during her rise as the founder of Theranos. She adopted blond hair, an unblinking gaze, and a husky voice, while wearing black turtlenecks in homage to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. This image helped mesmerize high-profile investors and board members, including Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, Carlos Slim, Henry Kissinger, and George Shultz. At its peak, Holmes was celebrated as America’s youngest self-made female billionaire.
However, the technology Theranos promised—a method for performing hundreds of medical tests using only a few drops of blood via microfluidics—was an illusion. The company’s success was built on what has been described as a confidence trick and a scam. Holmes dropped out of Stanford University at age 19 in 2003 to establish the company, tapping into a desire among investors for Silicon Valley to produce more meaningful innovations than social media apps.
Margaret O’Mara, a history professor at the University of Washington and author of 'The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America,' notes that Holmes’s story is so extraordinary it feels fabricated. She points out that if a screenwriter had invented such a narrative, audiences would likely reject it as unbelievable. Yet, the events are real, leaving the question of who the 'real' Elizabeth Holmes is still unanswered.
O’Mara also contextualizes Holmes’s ascent within the broader landscape of Silicon Valley. As a female entrepreneur in a male-dominated field, Holmes stood out for pursuing 'change-the-world-tech' rather than standard app development. This appeal resonated with investors who were beginning to critique the tech industry for its lack of substantive impact, even before the widespread 'techlash' emerged.
The documentary’s release has sparked renewed interest in the Theranos scandal, not just as a business failure but as a cultural phenomenon. The film’s unique format, combining Fielder’s signature style with intimate access to Holmes, offers a fresh perspective on a story that continues to fascinate the public. As Holmes begins her prison term, 'You Can See Everything' serves as a final, surreal examination of one of the most prominent frauds in modern business history.
While the film provides new insights into Holmes’s behavior and persona, it does not resolve all questions surrounding her motives or the full extent of the deception. The documentary leaves viewers to grapple with the same uncertainty that has persisted since Theranos collapsed: the difficulty of distinguishing between the performance and the person behind one of Silicon Valley’s most infamous illusions.
Sources behind this briefing
Go to the original reporting
- The Guardian US↗‘You can’t make this stuff up’: why we remain fascinated by Elizabeth Holmes
- ELLE↗Why Elizabeth Holmes and Her Partner, Billy Evans, Haven’t Watched 'You Can See Everything' Yet
- People.com↗How to Watch the Elizabeth Holmes Documentary, ‘You Can See Everything’
- Variety↗‘You Can See Everything’: 20 Most WTF Moments in the Elizabeth Holmes Doc, From Full-Frontal Nudity to a Charlie Kirk Shoutout
