'You Can See Everything' Holds a 99 on Metacritic — and Could Still Miss the Oscar Shortlist

By Tom Whitfield

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's documentary "You Can See Everything" holds a record-setting 99 on Metacritic, a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, 4.7 out of 5 on Letterboxd and a 9.4 on IMDb — and, according to Variety's awards analysts, it could still fail to make the Academy's 15-film documentary shortlist in December. The film, which triggered an explosive secret screening at Telluride, follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes during the 34 days before she reported to prison — and keeps shooting long after. Released by A24, it beat DC's comic book adaptation "Clayface" at the domestic box office after a close race. If its IMDb score holds, Variety notes, it would surpass "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) as the highest-rated film of all time on that platform. Those numbers cut both ways. Popularity, the historical record shows, rarely helps a documentary at the Oscars.

What does history say about popular documentaries?

The Academy's own past is the warning label. The 1994 omission of "Hoop Dreams" forced the Academy to overhaul its Oscar voting mechanism, years before the documentary branch was established in 2001. Morgan Neville's "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" grossed more than $22 million in 2018 and won the PGA and Critics Choice documentary awards, yet failed to earn an Oscar nomination. Neville, who won the Oscar for "20 Feet from Stardom" (2013), has not been nominated since — evidence, on the awards circuit, for a persistent theory: win once and the branch considers you taken care of. Laura Poitras, who won for "Citizenfour" and later earned another nomination for "All the Beauty and the Bloodshed," is the rare exception. One Academy voter, speaking to Variety, put the frustration plainly:

"There's a popularity contest element to it now that pisses me off. I don't care how many people I know on a film or how charming somebody is at a Q&A. Did they make a great documentary? That should be the question."

Why the film divides voters

"You Can See Everything" presents a second problem beyond its success. Fielder does not hide behind the camera; he is in the frame, and the film circles whether Holmes is being authentic, performing for the lens, or some blurry mix of both. For a documentary branch that still prizes the fly-on-the-wall approach, Variety reports, that could be a tough sell. So the smart money, per the trade's Nov. 2 prediction update, sees this as the kind of film that misses the shortlist entirely. But a snub that loud could become a rallying cry — much like Ben Affleck's directing omission for "Argo" — and the wider Academy membership could then respond in the one place it can: the best picture ballot. What does this change for the film's chances? Nothing is settled. Variety's prediction pages, curated by chief awards editor Clayton Davis, reflect current standings rather than preferences, and competitions remain fluid in response to buzz and events. Predictions update every Thursday.

The Oscar calendar ahead

The key dates that will settle it:

• Governors Awards, honoring Glenn Close and Ridley Scott: Sunday, Nov. 15
• Preliminary shortlist voting in 12 categories: Dec. 7–11
• Shortlist announcement: Tuesday, Dec. 15
• Eligibility period closes: Dec. 31, 2026
• Nominations voting: Jan. 11–15, 2027
• Nominations announced: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2027

The 99th Oscars follow on Sunday, March 14, 2027, hosted by Conan O'Brien, airing live at 7 p.m. ET on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. By then we will know whether the branch embraced the frontrunner — or snubbed it again.