At the Telluride Film Festival on Sunday evening, audiences entered the theater not knowing what awaited them. Phones were locked in special pouches, and the film's title was only announced on site.
It turned out to be a three-hour documentary, "You Can See Everything," about Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, sentenced to 11 years for defrauding investors.
Filming began 34 days before Holmes was due to report to prison in 2023. She herself invited the crew to a rented house in California, hoping, in her words, to refute the image that had formed around her.
The directors are comedian Nathan Fielder and documentarian Lance Oppenheim. A24 released the film, with a theatrical premiere scheduled for October.
Critics and audiences at the festival called the film "shocking," "stunning," and "unlike anything seen before." The trailer garnered over 1,6 million views in a day.
In a post-screening Q&A, Fielder admitted he still doesn't fully understand what he went through over the three years of work.
Why Holmes chose these particular filmmakers for her story is one of the questions the film leaves open even after viewing.
The media is discussing not only the access to Holmes's personal life and that of her family, but also how the unusual format—with extreme close-ups and prolonged interaction—changes the perception of documentary cinema.
Earlier, a series and documentary projects about Theranos had already been released, but this one, according to reviews, stands out for its degree of immersion and unexpected twists.
