(C) Letterboxd
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.
What is a documentary? One might sound like Lennon Parham's Karen Collins in the comedy series Veep when asking this question, but You Can Really See Everything does a phenomenal job of making you question everything. To be sure, a closer examination of the genre itself is nothing new, although having one starring Nathan Fielder and Elizabeth Holmes really does make it feel freshly riveting.
In this slow-burn doc, everyone is up to something, and many of its creative choices further elevate that feeling of dread—from the camerawork to the shots they decide to include. It also feels like everyone's playing a game of who folds first, which helps keep your eyes glued to the screen for nearly three hours. Further building the momentum is the direction the film takes in the second half, which features recreations of sequences the Fielder way.
To cap it all off, the film isn't afraid to consciously engage with its own brand of manipulation. It's almost as if it wants to tell you how it's about to frame a particular thing or subject. Unsurprisingly, it also treads into dangerous waters given its setup, which will undoubtedly be subject to many discussions.
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| (C) Rotten Tomatoes |
Again, none of this would work without a fascinating subject like Elizabeth Holmes. At the end of the day, the doc is an attempt to get inside her mind beyond the cases and controversies. What we get here somehow feels like nothing, and yet it's arguably compelling. The confusion is the point. The dangerous framing is the point. The ick is the point.
Contrary to what the couple initially hopes for, You Can See Everything leaves you with more questions than answers. They unintentionally allowed Fielder and Oppenheim to create one of the most relevant films of the "post-truth" era. This might very well be the film of the year. 4.5/5 ⭐️
