The Reel Review
A camera crew documents disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner, hotel heir Billy Evans, during her final 34 days of freedom before starting an 11-year prison sentence. The conviction – for defrauding investors out of more than 700 million dollars over a fake blood testing device that had been hailed as revolutionary in the medical industry. Nathan Fielder stars in and co-directs this unconventional, genre-bending documentary.
There are so many questions that will enter your mind during the first few minutes of this strange, surreal documentary. Is it actually a comedy mockumentary with its subjects in on the joke, given Fielder’s hilarious deadpan interview style? Does the wide-eyed Holmes actually believe her apparent delusions that she committed no crime? Are the rich truly this weird? Over the mind-spinning, three-hour runtime, we get the impression that the crazy-eyed pair are both bat-shit crazy psychopaths, Evans just the more frighteningly diabolical and off-the-rails of the two.
Without spoiling it, a delightfully jaw-dropping twist in the second half of the film turns this incredibly meta documentary completely on its head, featuring recreations that, ironically, will almost certainly yield a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. You Can See Everything is one unique, insane documentary, uncomfortably extreme close-ups and all. Well done.
REEL FACTS
• Billy Evans is the heir to the San Diego-based Evans Hotel Group, which owns the prominent Southern California properties The Lodge at Torrey Pines, Bahia Resort Hotel and The Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa.
• Reenactments were not originally planned as part of the film but were included after the actress who portrays Holmes in them suggested adding them.
• In 2015, Forbes named Elizabeth Holmes the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire, just a year before Theranos collapsed amidst fraud allegations. Her list of investors included former and future U.S. presidential cabinet members Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Jim Mattis and Betsy DeVos.
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