Docu‑Drama on Elizabeth Holmes Sparks Rating Surge and Classification Debate

The new documentary, "You Can See Everything," opened in theaters on Thursday night and drew a flurry of attention. Review sites gave it a perfect 100 % on Rotten Tomatoes, 99 % on Fandango, and a 9.3 rating on IMDb—tied for first with "The Shawshank Redemption." The film is not on IMDb’s Top 250 because it is classified as a documentary and has only about 1,000 ratings, far below the 25,000‑user threshold that the list requires. For comparison, the polarizing film Digger already has 37,000 ratings after two weeks.

Film content and production

The picture was produced a month before Holmes surrendered to begin an 11‑year federal sentence in 2023. It was created after Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans, approached A24 to document her final days of freedom. Co‑directed by comedian Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the film blends interviews with Holmes, a lifelike AI avatar of her made by Evans, and a cameo from actress Amanda Seyfried, who portrays Holmes in the Hulu series "The Dropout." Fielder’s style of mixing fact and satire is evident throughout, echoing his earlier work on "Nathan for You."

Because Fielder is known for mixing reality with performance, some reviewers question whether the film should be classified as a documentary. The Gizmodo piece notes that no film has ever won Best Picture while being classified as a documentary, and the film’s perfect scores have fueled debate over its eligibility for awards. TechCrunch highlights the film’s exploration of Holmes’ ambiguous persona and the challenges of portraying her truthfully, leaving the classification debate open as the film’s reception grows.