‘You Can See Everything’ Eyes Best Picture — But the Doc Branch May Balk

By Daniel Okafor

“You Can See Everything” has grossed $45 million in two weeks of release. That number, not the buzz, is the headline. Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the documentary about Elizabeth Holmes — the Theranos founder convicted of fraud — holds a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and audiences alike. Now the Oscar machinery starts grinding.

A24, the film's distributor, isn't commenting. But two people close to the production, with knowledge of the studio's thinking, expect the company to campaign for best picture, best supporting actress and best documentary. Potential runs in editing, cinematography, score and director are also on the table.

Could Amanda Seyfried make history?

Seyfried plays Holmes in the film's recreations. Should she land a best supporting actress nomination, it would be the first time an actress has been nominated in that category for a role in a documentary. That's not a marginal first. It's an unprecedented one.

And no documentary has ever been nominated for best picture. “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore's 2004 film, currently holds the title of highest-grossing nonconcert documentary and came arguably closest, given its effect on that year's cultural conversation. It was shut out entirely. More surprising: it was also shut out of the best documentary race — a fate that has befallen many a popular documentary before it.

Why best picture might be easier than best documentary?

Here's the irony. Oscar watchers think “You Can See Everything” may have a better shot at best picture than at best documentary. The academy's documentary division has a history of ignoring commercial successes that are either celebrity-focused or considered unconventional. This film, with its staged recreations and a Hollywood star embedded in the frame, is both.

The comparison worth holding onto: “Fahrenheit 9/11” had the box office and the national conversation, and the doc branch still looked away. Box office, it turns out, is not a voting bloc.

A spoiler warning the source itself flags: the film contains a surprise appearance, which the trade coverage declines to detail.

What happens next?

A24 has made no announcement. The campaign expectations rest entirely on two unnamed sources. But if the studio does push for best picture, it will be testing whether the academy's broad membership rewards a form its own documentary branch has repeatedly declined to honor — and whether Seyfried can carry a nomination into territory no actress has entered before.