New Release: You Can See Everything
How does one even begin to untangle the new documentary, You Can See Everything, about Elizabeth Holmes?
If you haven't seen The Inventor on HBO, or know nothing about Holmes...first, that's WILD, and second, I'd love to hear your opinion after you see this movie.
A heads-up: this film is almost 3 hours long, so you are settling in for an experience.
You Can See Everything is directed by Lance Oppenheimer (of this year's Primetime fame) and Nathan Fielder, known for awkward comedy, and stars Elizabeth Holmes, her husband, her family, and Fielder, who documents her last few days of freedom before she is sent to prison. Holmes, the creator of the controversial Theranos blood-testing system, was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy and wire fraud.
Fielder does a wonderful job pressing Holmes on her crimes and whether she understands the severity of what she did, or even thinks she committed anything worth going to prison for. However, her husband is the true "star" of this movie. And I'm not saying this in a complimentary way because,n't go in any direction as crazy, psychotic, or sociopathic as one might think Holmes is, her husband matches, if not exceeds, the villain role.
It's hard to do a typical "what works" and "what doesn't" for this type of documentary, so you're gonna have to go along with my thoughts about what I felt while watching this, without trying to spoil anything.
What can be spoiled in a documentary about a real-life person? Actually, a bit. This film didn't go in any direction I could've anticipated. And Holmes wasn't the craziest person in this movie, which is saying A LOT.
The first half of the movie didn't do much for me, especially since I'd already seen the aforementioned documentary on her. She strikes you as a sociopath who used high-profile men to shield herself from any scrutiny and criticism. Conveniently, she likes to be the smartest person in the room but instantly becomes helpless when it serves her needs. But after she goes to prison (spoiler alert), the second half of the movie shifts into a whole new gear, and that is when you're in for a ride. The last hour has the sauce, and I audibly gasped more than a few times at what was happening on screen.
I won't spoil what happens in the last hour of this movie, but it is worth the full ticket price, even if you feel like dozing early on. Get your nap in, but when a famous actress appears, wake up, lean forward, and get ready for some fireworks.
You will leave the theater with questions, even if they're not the ones you're anticipating: her guilt, her part in the fraud, and whether Fielder finally got in over his head by accepting this couple's invite into their house. 4/5
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