I sat there in a crowded movie theater and, in the middle of the picture, against all my cinema experience, said aloud, “Oh my god, oh my god.”
I blame the film itself, You Can See Everything co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim.
It defies so much — all? — of the conventions surrounding a documentary. It is such a unique and extraordinary piece of filmmaking, it is so utterly compelling (not a yawn for me in two hours and fifty-four minutes), it is so goddamned much fun that…I am looking all over the place for words and ways to describe it and am struggling mightily.
This was the best movie I’ve seen in a theater in at least seven years. One of my best movie-going experiences of all time.
Here’s the pedestrian description: it was a documentary about Elizabeth Holmes who was found guilty of fraud through her health technology company, Theranos. Prior to that conviction she’d been a media darling. The attractive very young genius who’d become a billionaire.
Her downfall and the trial were one of those media sensations that lasted several months. Her fame (infamy) was redoubled by a TV mini-series about her starring Amanda Seyfried that was not only critically-acclaimed but popular.
Prior to the start of her eleven years and three months (since reduced by a year) sentence, Holmes and her partner (social not business), Billy Evans, approached the production company and distributor A24 about making a documentary that would show the “real Elizabeth.” The comedian Nathan Fielder became fascinated by her after reading John Carreyrou’s 2018 book “Bad Blood” and asked for a chance to film, along with co-director Lance Oppenheim, with Holmes and her family, with the understanding that nothing might come of the project. Something very much did.
The first part of the film centers around her home life with Evans and their two small children in a rented San Diego beach house beginning thirty-four days before she is to surrender. That’s all fascinating. The last part of the movie is other-worldly.
I knew next to zero about Nathan Fielder before seeing the film though I was given to understand that his style of comedy made a lot of people uncomfortable ( I heard cringeworthy) and he seemed to be loved and hated in equal measure. I didn’t know as much as a lot of people about Ms. Holmes. I’d followed her story mostly through headlines and snippets without reading a full article.
But the reviews for You Can See…. were rapturous and the trailer was one of the most enticing I’d ever seen. Yesterday was the soonest I could get to the theater. I had a feeling that this was going to be a terrific film. I had no idea that it would be mind-bending.
My impression was that Holmes must be a sociopath. Early on in the film it becomes evident that she’s nothing of the sort. She’s probably neurodivergent (I realize that word has become something of a catch all). But I’m in no position to offer a definitive diagnosis. And the film raises infinitely more questions than it gives answers and I love it for that. I will say that it’s evident that she has a different perception of reality than most of us. It’s hard to figure out exactly where her brain is coming from and how she interprets the world. Suffice to say it’s interesting and different and no bloody wonder she committed fraud and believes herself innocent. And I don’t doubt that she believes she did nothing wrong. That’s scary.
Fielder does a wonderful job throughout. Since seeing the film I’ve been given to understand that in his TV work he will allow an awkward silence to linger. This he does to great effect in the documentary. Letting certain assertions and opinions from Liz and Billy hang in there proves quite effective. Speaking of Billy….In a weird way he can be something of a scene stealer. It’s like we come for Holmes and stay for Evans (to stretch a point). He becomes a very large part of the story, provides the twist of the tale, and delivered my “Oh my God” moment.
There’s also a celebrity who shows up and sticks around and I’ll not say who in case you’ve not seen the movie yet. Her popping in initially seems an interesting touch but then she stays and plays a far more significant part than I could have imagined, even confronting Billy. She and Nathan become part of the story. I mean, that’s just weird. But it also turns out to be highly effective. Hell, everything about the film is highly effective.
How do we see the world? What are our motivations? What are our core beliefs? How do we relate to other people and how do we understand them and how do we get them to understand us? What is love? What is justice? What are good and evil and what happens when we confuse the two?
One fascinating idea I struck upon is that Elizabeth and Billy are living in different realities that somehow co-exist. They don't necessarily share an understanding of what they're doing, even though they're doing it together. Billy is cold and calculating. He has a genuine warmth for Elizabeth and their children but his other relationships are transactional. He strikes me as the epitome of the worst kind of tech bro.
It’s fascinating to me that he can have such coldness in his heart and yet love Liz and his kids so much (at least I think he does).
One last thought. I wonder if the film is a result of the genius of the filmmakers or if they -- while doing excellent work -- fell ass backwards into an incredible story. I think there's a lot of the latter to it but I wouldn't diminish the work of the director and producer, they deserve all the kudos they get. After all, you’ve got to have a little luck in making a documentary. In fiction you can script a “wow!” moment; in a documentary you can’t manufacture it and you’ve got to have cameras rolling when it appears.
I'll be chewing over You Can See…. for awhile. Someday — soon, I hope, I’ll watch it again. Who knows how differently I'll see it the second time? It's something that demands repeat viewings and perspectives will most certainly change with each viewing. There's so much to take in.
For decades Hearts & Minds has been my favorite documentary. It now has a challenger.
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