You Can See Everything, a documentary by Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder, delves into cultural dynamics that are prevalent in the current era. While it stands out for its documentary format combined with commercial appeal and Oscar buzz, it highlights themes that resonate with the complexities of today’s world. The film focuses on the infamous Theranos scandal and its central figure, Elizabeth Holmes. It explores her attempts to rebuild her life both privately and publicly after being recognized as a significant fraud in the business sector.
The documentary captures the broader sense of discomfort and challenges faced by society in navigating the current grift economy, characterized by scattered media, algorithm-driven filter bubbles, and endless platforms where personal versions of the truth are shared. The film scrutinizes the popular notion of ‘fake it ’til you make it’ that dominates the entrepreneurial and startup landscape. Holmes epitomized this approach, aligning herself closely with the persona of Steve Jobs in both style and ambition, particularly in her pursuit of revolutionizing blood testing. This mirrors other ventures related to apps, digital currencies, virtual worlds, and artificial intelligence.
The central question raised by the film is what transpires when such aspirational thinking crosses into deception, leading to billions in investment losses and compromising medical integrity, a field fundamentally rooted in ‘do no harm.’ There’s a distinction between believing in future technological delivery and the ability to provide such solutions in the present. Oppenheim and Fielder choose not to delve deeply into the details of Theranos, as it has been extensively covered through investigations, media, and legal proceedings. Instead, the film pivots around a revealing statement Holmes made to The New York Times in 2023, offering insight into potential dishonest or confused motivations, an aspect keenly examined by Fielder’s critical demeanor.
The filmmakers appear uninterested in retracing the complexities of Theranos, choosing instead to encapsulate Holmes’s narrative during a limited recording period within a San Diego guest house. This timeframe precedes her incarceration, allowing Holmes and her partner Billy Evans to shape the public perception they desire—a concept akin to brand image alteration, referred to could be dubbed as docu-washing. Speculation abounds regarding Holmes’s persona; whether she is naïve and affected by personal trauma, or a target of manipulation from influential men around her.
Questions surface about Evans’s mental state—whether it reflects a loss of reality due to Holmes’s circumstances or serves as another strategic attempt to garner support and empathy. His interest in Charlie Kirk and potential political machinations add layers of intrigue, raising questions about their genuine relationship or continued enactment of roles crafted for post-Theranos narratives.
In the film’s second half, the focus shifts to how post-Holmes media narratives, like those presented in The Dropout, construct altered versions of Holmes’s story for emotional engagement, at times bending truths for dramatic effect. While dramatic adaptation isn’t medical malpractice, it represents potential disingenuousness when portraying real people.
The documentary’s potency lies in its capacity to scrutinize Holmes, Evans, the grift economy at large, including the sensational machinery that underpins it, as well as the filmmakers’ role in all of this. You Can See Everything offers visibility into these dimensions, acknowledging that visibility does not equate to understanding. This insightfulness is what renders Oppenheim and Fielder’s work impactful.
Ian Chaffee is a consultant specializing in technology and startup media relations based in Los Angeles.