Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes Film Eyes Best Picture Oscar
You Can See Everything, A24's documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, has grossed $64.8 million in three weeks. It could become the first documentary nominated for Best Picture, but it faces The Odyssey and a crowded awards calendar.
Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary, You Can See Everything, is positioned to chase Oscar history, with a path to becoming the first documentary nominated for Best Picture and potentially the first to win it, if the awards season breaks its way.
A24 released the film, directed by Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. It documents Holmes before her prison sentence. To reach the 10-film Best Picture race, it must win over voters at the Motion Picture Academy.
Box office and reviews
The film has grossed $64.8 million at the box office in three weeks. It holds a 96% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 98 on Metacritic.
Word of mouth built first within the industry and then among viewers. Its rapid rise is unlike anything audiences have seen since Parasite, a Best Picture winner, according to the report.
The Oscar precedent
Documentaries have often been nominated outside the Best Documentary Feature category. Four have received Best Score nominations, 12 Best Song and five Best International Feature Film.
Seven have been recognized in other main and technical categories in the Academy's 98-year history. They include With Byrd at South Pole, which won Best Cinematography in 1930, and Woodstock, which took Best Sound and Best Film Editing in 1971. Hoop Dreams won for editing in 1995.
The competition
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is the front-runner in the category and will be hard to topple. In current odds, the closest rival is La Bola Negra, which has dominated the festival circuit.
You Can See Everything has climbed quickly in recent weeks. The report compares its surge to Widow's Bay, which came out of nowhere to sweep the Emmys over early favorite Hacks.
Awards dates ahead
Momentum starts with regional critics' prizes. The New York Film Critics Circle announces first on December 1, followed by the National Board of Review the next day. Critics Choice nominations arrive on December 4.
Critics could favor the film over The Odyssey and La Bola Negra at the major critics' groups. The Critics Choice voters could reward it in the picture, director and supporting actress races.
Hurdles follow as the season moves to Hollywood guilds. As a documentary, the film is ineligible at the Golden Globes, apart from Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. It is also ineligible at the Actor Awards and the Writers Guild of America Awards.
