A24's 'You Can See Everything' Proves True Crime is Box Office Gold

A documentary becoming one of the most talked-about and financially successful films of the season is a rare event. Yet, that's precisely what's unfolding with A24’s You Can See Everything, the nearly three-hour film about notorious Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, this documentary is defying all expectations, from critical acclaim to its astonishing box office performance.

Released theatrically on October 16, 2026, You Can See Everything plunges viewers into the final 34 days before Holmes began her federal prison sentence in May 2023. The film then continues to follow her and her partner, Billy Evans, over three years, offering an intimate yet unsettling look into her life. Its Thursday preview showings alone amassed an impressive $1.75 million across 855 screens, with box-office pundits predicting an opening weekend gross that could climb to an astounding $12 million. Such figures are virtually unheard of for a non-music documentary, underscoring a fascinating shift in what audiences are willing to pay to see on the big screen.

The Unending Allure of Elizabeth Holmes

Elizabeth Holmes is a figure who continues to fascinate and confound. At just 19, she founded Theranos in 2003, promising to revolutionize healthcare with cheap, portable blood tests. By 2014, the company was valued at $9 billion, and Holmes was hailed as the youngest self-made woman billionaire by Forbes. Dubbed the "iPod of healthcare," Theranos's core technology, the Edison machine, never worked, producing wildly inaccurate results that ultimately led to the company's dissolution in 2018 and Holmes's conviction for defrauding investors in 2022. This saga has already spawned best-selling books, podcasts, the HBO documentary The Inventor, and the Emmy-winning Hulu miniseries The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried.

However, You Can See Everything offers a unique, direct perspective. Holmes herself initiated the project, reaching out to A24 about making a documentary about her prior to Fielder and Oppenheim's involvement. According to Vanity Fair, she was "convinced of her own innocence" and "utterly certain that everyone else will believe her too, if only she has an opportunity to speak her truth." This underlying motivation provides a compelling, if deeply uncomfortable, foundation for the film, tapping into the enduring public fascination with complex true crime narratives, particularly those involving figures who remain steadfast in their self-perception despite overwhelming evidence.

Fielder's Genius: An Inscrutable Rorschach Test

Much of the film's unique power stems from co-director Nathan Fielder's signature style. Known for his work on Nathan for You and The Rehearsal, Fielder expertly blurs the lines between comedy and documentary, often creating situations that leave both his subjects and the audience in a state of discomfort and uncertainty. This approach is perfectly suited to the enigmatic figure of Elizabeth Holmes, who insists she has never lied in her entire adult life, justifying brazenly false statements with what one critic called "word-jujitsu."

Fielder's initial plan was to remain behind the camera, but his interactions with Holmes and Evans became so strange that he was incorporated into the film.