Elizabeth Holmes documentary breaks limited-release box office records

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 16:32 · Archive

A documentary about convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes filmed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim earned $15m in its opening weekend.

You Can See Everything, a documentary about convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, earned $15m during its opening weekend on 855 screens across the US and Canada. Metro reports this is the biggest opening for a film on fewer than 1,000 screens since 2006's Borat. The film's distributor A24 has called it 'one of the largest limited-release openings of the 21st century'.

Elizabeth Anne Holmes, 42, founded Theranos in 2003 after studying chemical engineering at Stanford. The company claimed to revolutionise blood testing with a device called the Edison test, promising to detect conditions such as cancer and diabetes quickly without needles. At its peak in 2013 and 2014, Theranos was valued at $9bn and raised over $700m from investors. Holmes was convicted of defrauding these investors.

The Guardian reports that the documentary follows Holmes at home with her partner Billy Evans and their two young children during the weeks before she starts her prison sentence. The film is presented as an act of 'radical transparency'. Evans told the filmmakers that 'the best way for people to see who she is is to give as much access as possible into our daily lives'. However, The Guardian notes that the documentary questions whether Holmes is presenting her authentic self or a manufactured persona, with filmmaker Fielder asking Holmes directly whether she is 'being real'. The couple are also shown working on 'Theranos 2.0' during filming.

How it is being reported

• ‘I’m always being real’: what on earth persuades disgraced people like Elizabeth Holmes to let the cameras in?With You Can See Everything, Holmes joins other such high-profile subjects as Lance Armstrong, Imelda Marcos and Anthony Weiner to allow film-makers to document their lives. But do they ever come out well? In You Can See Everything, convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes invites film-makers Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim into her home in a supposed act of “radical transparency”. Holmes is filmed, along with her partner, Billy Evans, and their two young children, in the weeks before starting a prison sentence for defrauding Theranos investors. “The best way for people to see who she is,”…The Guardian · 21 Oct, 16:02
• Who is Elizabeth Holmes? The real story behind Nathan Fielder’s You Can See EverythingYou Can See Everything was filmed in top secret.Metro · 20 Oct, 20:00

In this story: Elizabeth Holmes · Nathan Fielder · Lance Oppenheim · Billy Evans · Theranos · A24

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