Elizabeth Holmes Documentary Pulls Numbers as Box Office Figures Rival Hollywood Hits
Disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has returned to the spotlight in You Can See Everything, a three-hour film directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. The film pulled a phenomenal $15 million at the box office during its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. That opening haul propelled the indie feature to historic critical heights, earning an unprecedented Metacritic score of 99 out of 100.
That score places the film in rare company, matching the Metacritic rating of the 2016 drama Moonlight. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 99 percent rating from 117 reviews, alongside a 4.7 out of 5 score on Letterboxd that makes it the platform’s fourth-highest reviewed release overall. The film’s distributors at A24 managed the rollout through an extraordinary veil of secrecy, keeping the project away from industry leaks for nearly three years before surprising an audience of 650 people at the Telluride Film Festival on Sept. 6, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Inside the Secrecy Strategy That Ambushed Festivals
Fewer than 10 staffers at the New York-based indie studio A24 knew that their 300-person company was producing a genre-bending film about Holmes, according to The Wall Street Journal. Studio executives realized that keeping the production quiet would prevent outside interference for Fielder and Oppenheim, while also serving as a potent marketing weapon.
In June, A24 executive Nicolette Aizenberg contacted the director of the Telluride Film Festival with a text message: “Have something…of note to talk to you about.” Although the Colorado festival lineup was nearly locked, organizers hatched a plan to screen the film without prior notice. Attendees were required to lock their phones in Yondr pouches upon entering the theater, ensuring the film remained a surprise until the projector rolled.
Contrasting Accounts of Theranos Fraud
While the film captures Holmes in her last weeks with her family before beginning an 11-year prison sentence in Texas in 2023, former insiders argue the film glosses over the severe medical fallout of her company’s blood-testing claims. According to STAT, the company’s blood-testing device, known as the Edison, could only run one type of immunoassay test at a time. The actual Edison device that Theranos used was an eight-channel pipette inside a black box that used the same chemistry and detection methods that have been used for blood tests since the 1970s.
STAT also reported that while Holmes claimed in an August 2015 meeting with potential investors that Theranos brought in $108 million in net revenues for fiscal year 2014, Securities and Exchange Commission findings show the company recorded little more than $100,000 in revenue that year while refusing to show audited financial statements.
The Cat-and-Mouse Game Between Holmes and Nathan Fielder
Fielder, a Canadian satirist who worked with Sacha Baron Cohen on Who Is America? and on his own shows, Nathan for You and The Rehearsal, initially did not intend to appear on-screen. Holmes drew him into her web, resulting in a game of cat-and-mouse between the two. Holmes attempts to cast herself as a victim of her former partner, Sunny Balwani, who received an almost 13-year sentence for helping Holmes defraud investors of more than $700 million. In the film, Fielder compels Holmes to watch The Dropout, a televised dramatization of the Theranos scandal, which leads to Holmes collapsing in sobs.
Frequently Asked Questions About You Can See Everything
When did Elizabeth Holmes begin serving her prison sentence?
Holmes began serving her 11-year prison sentence for fraud in Texas in 2023.
How much did Sunny Balwani receive in his sentencing?
Sunny Balwani was sentenced to an almost 13-year sentence for helping Holmes defraud investors of more than $700 million.
Where did You Can See Everything premiere to unsuspecting audiences?
The film made its surprise debut on Sept. 6 at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, where 650 people locked their phones in Yondr pouches before viewing it.
What financial figures did Theranos actually record in 2014?
While Holmes told potential investors that Theranos generated $108 million in net revenues for fiscal year 2014, SEC records show the company actually recorded little more than $100,000.