A new documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes follows her private life in the 34 days before she went to prison. The film opens in US cinemas on October 16, IOL reported.
The film is called “You Can See Everything”. It was made by Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder and director Lance Oppenheim.
“I still am not sure to this day, like, what I experienced, and it’s one of the reasons I’m excited for it to like come out and more people see it, because it was just a small group for so long,” Fielder said.
The documentary shows Holmes at home in California with her partner Billy Evans and their two children. It mixes documentary film with a reality television style.
The film first screened at the Telluride Film Festival in September, where it drew high praise. At a later screening in Los Angeles, the audience laughed, gasped and clapped.
Fielder and Oppenheim said it was Holmes who first spoke to the entertainment company A24 about filming her daily life. After a few meetings with the filmmakers, she invited them into her home, they said.
Oppenheim said neither Holmes nor Evans said they knew his work when they let the crew in.
Fielder is known for the shows “The Rehearsal” and “Nathan For You”. Both blur the line between real life and fiction, and use awkward moments for comedy.
He said there was “never a great explanation” for why he should lead the project. He also joked about why anyone “would want to spend your last month of freedom in a decade with this guy.”
“I like to see myself as like a nice person overall, but still, I wouldn’t choose me,” Fielder said.
The filmmakers said the choice to put Fielder on screen was made during filming. Close-up shots of him face to face with Holmes have already spread widely on social media as memes.
Oppenheim said that as filming went on, it felt like the only way to make the film was to have someone “confront, you know, their delusions on certain aspects.”
Early images released by A24 show Holmes keeping strong, steady eye contact with Fielder. Fielder said those scenes made even him “uncomfortable”.
“At a certain point, I was like, ‘I’m not going to stop.’ If she’s looking at me, I’m just going to keep looking at her,” he said.
The directors said living in the same house as Holmes and her family caused tension. They said Evans, who has not seen the film, tried to take control of the production at times.
At the Los Angeles screening, the directors described the experience as “really sad and hard at times.” Guests at the event included Aziz Ansari, Hannah Einbinder, Zach Cregger, Meg Stalter and Hasan Piker.
Theranos was a health technology company that claimed it could run medical tests with only a few drops of blood. That claim was false, and the company has since closed.
In the early 2010s, Holmes drew big investors such as Henry Kissinger, Carlos Slim and Rupert Murdoch. In 2022 she was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy.
Her story was told in a book, several podcasts and the TV series “The Dropout”, which starred Amanda Seyfried.
Fielder and Oppenheim said Holmes has not seen the finished film. She remains in prison.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Entertainment. Image: IOL Entertainment. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Entertainment desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Rirhandzu Baloyi writes about entertainment for Tzaneen Voice. Rirhandzu covers South African music, film, TV, streaming, awards and celebrity news, from amapiano and local soapies to Showmax and Netflix releases. Stories stick to what happened, who was involved and when fans can watch or listen.