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There’s no question You Can See Everything is generating a lot of buzz. But will it translate into Oscars buzz?
The film distributor, A24, certainly hopes so.
In fact, the company has launched an awards campaign that’s turning a lot of industry heads.
Even those who haven’t seen the film yet are probably familiar with You Can See Everything’s premise: 34 days before she’s sent to prison, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move.
In 2014, Holmes made multi-millions by claiming she had developed a technology that could cheaply screen for hundreds of diseases using just a few drops of blood from a finger prick. By 2022, Theranos had been dissolved and Holmes was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud investors.
The film begins as a documentary-style portrait of an enigmatic felon and becomes something much different. Those who have seen it describe it as some variation of mind-blowing, a fever dream or unlike anything they’ve seen before.
So it’s no surprise You Can See Everything is campaigning to be nominated for Best Documentary — a category Canada has historically done very well in.
What’s more surprising is A24 wants the film to be considered for Best Picture.
Nathan Fielder’s You Can See Everything gazes into the abyss of Elizabeth Holmes.
The documentary about the jailed Theranos founder examines the absurd nature of truth.
In the Academy Awards’ 98-year history, no feature documentary has ever been nominated for Best Picture.
And that’s not the only big fish You Can See Everything is eyeing. It is putting Lance Oppenheim and Canadian Nathan Fielder forward to be considered in the Best Directory category. Again, something no documentary has ever accomplished.
You Can See Everything has put forward two Canadian names for consideration in the categories of Best Cinematography (David Bolen) and Best Film Editing (Adam Locke-Norton), plus others for Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Production Design.
Warning: spoilers start here
To those unfamiliar with the film, here’s where things start to get a little head-scratchy: A24’s awards page suggests the film also deserves nominations for Best Costume Design (another Canadian name, Katina Danabassis, here) as well as Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Yes. For a documentary.
If you’ve seen it, you understand why. If you haven’t, you’ll be even more surprised by this next category.
Variety has reported there is another campaign — one not listed on A24’s awards page — for Amanda Seyfried to be nominated as Best Supporting Actress.
Seyfried played the documentary’s subject, Elizabeth Holmes, in the 2022 TV miniseries The Dropout. She appears in You Can See Everything as herself, reprising the role of Holmes.
It’s all very meta, and might make your shake your head a bit, but Variety has confirmed Seyfried would indeed be eligible for an acting nomination.
Judging by the rave reviews, audiences are loving how You Can See Everything has pushed the boundaries of filmmaking.
We’ll see if the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has the same appreciation for the fearless approach to awards season on Jan. 21 of next year. That’s when The Oscar nominations are due to be announced.
