A new documentary centered on disgraced tech executive Elizabeth Holmes has achieved a massive commercial milestone, pulling in fifteen million dollars during its opening weekend across the United States and Canada. Distributed by A24 and titled You Can See Everything, the three-hour feature achieved this strong debut despite a relatively small release spanning only eight55 theater screens.
Industry publications have highlighted the film's exceptional performance, noting that it marks the second-largest box office opening for a documentary in history. Michael Moore’s 2004 political feature Fahrenheit 9/11 remains the record holder for the genre. Additionally, the project secured the highest opening weekend earnings for any movie playing on fewer than one thousand screens since the release of Borat two decades ago.
Co-directed by filmmaker Lance Oppenheim and comedian Nathan Fielder, the documentary was produced in secret over a three-year period. It captures Holmes at her residence during the final weeks before she commenced an eleven-year federal prison sentence. Holmes was previously convicted of defrauding financial backers of her failed blood-testing startup, Theranos, a high-profile corporate scandal that has already inspired numerous books, television programs, and podcasts.
Fielder, widely known for his unconventional television formats that blend reality with psychological experimentation, places himself directly into the narrative. In the film, Holmes permits a skeptical production team to follow her daily life just thirty-four days before her incarceration. A promotional teaser released following a surprise screening at the Telluride Film Festival quickly generated widespread online discussion and internet memes, particularly featuring an interaction where Holmes questions the comedian about why she would deceive anyone.
Critics have responded to the project with widespread acclaim, prompting early speculation regarding potential Academy Award recognition. Major publications have showered the feature with top ratings, praising its exploration of truth and deception. While analysts view the documentary as a strong contender for the best documentary feature category at upcoming industry awards, whether it can break barriers to contend for major overall categories remains a point of discussion among film experts.
The feature finished its debut weekend just behind Paramount's newly released video game adaptation Street Fighter, which led North American box office charts. Even so, the strong public turnout for a non-concert documentary underscores a sustained public fascination with the rise and fall of the former Silicon Valley entrepreneur.
Reporting based on coverage first published by BBC News. Read the original report at BBC News.
