'You Can See Everything': How the Elizabeth Holmes documentary explains the Theranos fraud

"You Can See Everything" is a 174-minute documentary directed by Nathan Fielder, in his feature directorial debut, and Lance Oppenheim, released by A24. It follows Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of blood-testing startup Theranos, during the 34 days before she began a federal prison sentence for defrauding investors, and continues filming episodes involving her partner Billy Evans into 2025, according to the English Wikipedia entry for the film.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on 6 September 2026 and opened theatrically on 16 October 2026. It took in $15.6 million in its US opening weekend against a $7 million budget. Wikipedia describes this as the second-best documentary opening ever, behind "Fahrenheit 9/11," while UK coverage of the film's reception describes it as the largest documentary opening in more than 20 years; both figures refer to the same $15.6 million weekend.

Why the Theranos story is back in the news

Holmes was convicted in January 2022 on four counts of wire fraud over claims that Theranos's blood-testing technology could run comprehensive tests from a few drops of blood, according to ABC News. She was initially sentenced to just over 11 years; that sentence was later reduced to 10 years and 3 months, and her scheduled release date is 22 February 2030, per the same report.

According to ABC News, Holmes and Evans approached A24 themselves about making a documentary about their lives, and the project landed with Fielder and Oppenheim, who moved into the couple's rented beach house in Del Mar, California, for the weeks before Holmes's incarceration began in 2023. In the film, when asked about her role in the fraud, Holmes denies having done anything wrong and says she wanted to document her story before going to prison, ABC News reports.

Evans told ABC News he took part so that viewers could watch Holmes directly and form their own judgment, while saying he was unsure how the finished film would portray them. He added that the couple's two children visit Holmes weekly and that the family tries to be honest with them about the situation.

What the film shows — and what reviewers say it gets wrong

Per the Wikipedia summary of the film, the documentary later shifts focus to Evans's new venture, a company called Haemanthus, and depicts his control over Holmes's public image, including unauthorised social media posts and an AI-generated likeness of her. Actor Amanda Seyfried, who played Holmes in the Hulu series "The Dropout," appears as herself and in staged re-enactments.

Time's review, by critic Stephanie Zacharek, argues that Holmes herself is not the film's weak point: she comes across as evasive but compelling, repeatedly suggesting that she only knows her own version of events. Zacharek is more critical of Fielder's on-camera presence and exaggerated reactions to Holmes, describing it as an overly ironic performance, and concludes that the film works more as a curiosity than as a documentary breakthrough.

Sold-out screenings in the UK

UK exhibitors have reported unusually strong advance demand ahead of the film's 20 November UK opening. Cineworld expanded bookings from roughly 40 cinemas to about 75 nationwide after screenings at its Leicester Square site sold out immediately, according to reporting that quoted Cineworld's international vice-president of content, Stuart Crane, describing the pace of demand as unusually fast.

Picturehouse Cinemas creative director Clare Binns compared the reaction to the release of "Barbie" in 2023, saying demand had reached a level not seen since then, and noted it was unusual for a three-hour documentary to generate that level of interest. In the US, more than 2,000 screenings across 855 cinemas sold out on opening weekend, and over 70% of that opening-weekend audience was under 35.