In late 2022, Theranos scammer Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to a little over 11 years in prison for her fraud convictions. She’s served almost three-and-a-half years, and her sentence has already been shortened by two years for “good behavior,” which kind of rankles me because Holmes still staunchly maintains her innocence. I’ve watched enough Datelines to know that maintaining your innocence before a parole board ensures a continued stay in prison; I know Holmes’s situation is different from parole, but I still thought her lack of culpability would carry more weight.
Well, let’s see what effect, if any, the following has on her sentence: we’re getting a new three-hour documentary about Holmes next month — in theaters. (Did I mention this thing is three hours long?!) Co-directed by Nathan Fielder (The Curse, The Rehearsal) and Lance Oppenheim (he just screened his Robert Pattinson-as Chris Hansen flick Primetime in Venice), You Can See Everything premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and dropped a teaser trailer over the weekend. The teaser lets us know that not only is Fielder directing, he’s also front and center in the scenes with Holmes. True to its title, the doc was filmed with Holmes and her partner Billy Evans granting full access to their lives in the month leading up to her reporting to Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Texas. And it sounds pretty bonkers (complimentary):
Holmes, who began her prison sentence on May 30, 2023, is seen speaking to filmmaker Nathan Fielder at her home in the trailer for A24’s You Can See Everything, which is expected to hit theaters in October.
The clip, released on Sunday, Sept. 6, shows Holmes speaking to Fielder while sitting on a couch.
“I’m not that person, I can promise you that. I don’t have anything to deceive you on, of course I’m not deceiving you,” she said in a close-up shot in the teaser.
Holmes added, “I’m engaging with you as a human being. Why would I deceive you? There’s no reason for me to do that.”
“Okay. Alright. Okay, good chat … You’re being real right now?” Fielder replied.
Holmes then insisted, “I’m always being real,” before the camera panned back to reveal her baby in a bouncer. PEOPLE reported in February 2023 that Holmes had given birth to her second child with her partner, Billy Evans.
It’s since been confirmed that the pair had a daughter, named Invicta (Latin for “invincible”), after welcoming their first child, son William Holmes Evans, in July 2021.
The trailer’s release came as the documentary’s world premiere took place at the Telluride Film Festival on Sunday night, Deadline reported. The movie was unveiled at a top-secret screening, per the outlet.
The film’s synopsis reads, “Thirty-four days before she’s sent to prison, notorious Silicon Valley founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move.”
“What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon becomes a mind-bending three-year journey into the abyss. From boundary-pushing directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim comes You Can See Everything,” it adds.
Fielder spoke about the upcoming film during a Q&A session after Sunday’s Telluride screening.
“What I am really excited about is for you to see the movie and tell me what I experienced,” he said, per Deadline, adding, “I don’t know why they wanted me there. Why am I there?”
I’m usually wary of documentaries where the filmmaker makes themself a key figure on screen, and a line like, “What I am really excited about is for you to see the movie and tell me what I experienced,” basically explains why. However, I am someone who adores moments of prolonged, agonizing awkwardness, and I fully recognize that what Fielder does is essentially performance art. So in short: I’m in. The clip from the teaser persuaded me that meeting delusional batsh-t energy (Holmes) with consciously constructed batsh-t energy (Fielder) is a solid choice. I mean, that shot of Holmes insisting, “I’m always being real,” is PRICELESS. That whole quasi conversation plays like two humanoids sussing each other out. The early reviews coming out of the premiere (which really was top secret, with audience members required to surrender their phones to gain entry) are raves. Holmes’s partner Evans is described as right up there with her (if not more so) in the unhinged department, and apparently the second half picks up after Holmes is in prison (so now we know what Fielder was doing visiting Holmes in prison last year) and has some jaw-dropping twists. What a great year it’s been for horror films!
