"You Can See It All" has the biggest opening for a documentary in decades

You Can See Everything, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, had the biggest box office opening for a documentary in more than 20 years. The film, which mixes several cinematic styles, received more than $15 million in ticket sales, and it deals with the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, which fell into the trap of scandal.

Many weekend screenings in cities such as New York and Los Angeles were sold out, even though the film was up to 3 hours long. A24, the film's distributor, described the launch as "one of the biggest limited-edition openings of the 21st century."

The film "You Can See Everything" opened in less than 900 theaters, after its amazing showing at the Telluride Film Festival last September. Directors Felder and Oppenheim have been working on this project in secret for years, filming with Holmes and her partner Billy Evans in the weeks leading up to her entry into prison in 2023.

She was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud Theranos investors, but she tried to convince the filmmakers of her innocence. Fielder appears on camera interviewing Holmes and Evans, as the film takes unexpected paths, impressing critics and audiences alike.

The film received a very high rating of 99% on the Rotten Tomatoes website, and recorded a record rating of 4.8 on the Letterboxed website. David Mack wrote, in an article for the Ofoq News Network, that the film “reshaped the rules of documentary films as we know them,” stressing that it “fully lives up to the hype raised around it.”

And audiences were apparently eager to find out for themselves, as the film had the biggest opening for a film opening in fewer than 1,000 theaters since Borat in 2006, and the biggest opening for a non-musical documentary since Fahrenheit 9/11 in 2004. In contrast, another notable documentary this year, Amazon MGM's "Melania," about America's First Lady, opened in twice as many theaters, but It grossed less than half the box office grosses of You Can See Everything, which grossed $7.1 million in its opening slots and was a box office hit compared to other documentaries.

"You Can See Everything" is in a category of its own, and some film critics have expected it to be nominated for Best Picture.