NATHAN FIELDER HAS become one of the greatest arbiters of what is—or isn’t—the truth. Fielder, whose mainstream career unofficially kicked off with his show Nathan for You, a dry, quasi-documentary, quasi-scripted, quasi-spoof of shows like Undercover Boss, has found a way to level up with each project he’s made over the course of his still relatively short career, each step of the way inviting audiences to not only question the reality of what he’s bringing to the screen, but their own stances and ways of thinking about things broadly. The road for Fielder has included HBO’s The Rehearsal (another often surreal, often Lynchian project that presents as real, but on a subtextual level asks viewers to question whether any of what he’s depicting was really happening as it was shown) and The Curse, a Showtime/Paramount+ series that he starred in and co-created alongside Emma Stone and Benny Safdie.
That show was, surprise, surprise, incredibly thoughtful, layered, and, ultimately, surreal when it comes to its underlying themes of sincerity and intention. In a way, all of this has led Fielder to his latest project, the new A24 documentary You Can See Everything. The subject is a fitting one for Fielder: Elizabeth Holmes, the former Theranos CEO and convicted fraudster who was the subject of books (Bad Blood) and television shows (The Dropout) about her misdeeds.
It makes total sense that someone famous for skirting the truth would be of interest for Fielder, a creator who has now spent so much time examining not only the truth, but what audiences might accept as the truth even given some reason not to. In 2022, Holmes was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in federal prison. That’s where You Can See Everything comes in: Holmes and her new husband Billy Evans invited Fielder (and a film crew, led by co-director Lance Oppenheim) to join them in a home they were renting for complete access during the 34 days before she reported to federal prison in Bryan, Texas, in May 2023.
And the film begins there. And, quite frankly, if you’re considering seeing You Can See Everything, it’s best to leave it there. Fielder gets the access he was promised in the movie, but the joy of the film isn’t only in this exclusive vision of such a notable figure, but how an artist with such a relationship to the truth engages with someone who so notably has, seemingly, bent it.
We also get to see Holmes and Evans shot as human beings, removed from any of the prior media circuses that have surrounded them. Fielder and Oppenheim put a fair camera to everything and let the camera do what was promised: See everything. You Can See Everything has been one of the best-reviewed films of the year, and it lives up to the billing.
Just when you think you understand what’s happening and what’s going to happen, you’ll be quickly proven wrong. Just when you think you have a handle on who someone is and what they’re all about… you’ll quickly be proven wrong. The movie is three hours long, which, of course, we know seems daunting.
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