In order to avoid spoilers, Lisa Johnson Mandell’s You Can See Everything review is not so much a critical examination of of the film, but gives you critical information that will hopefully enhance your viewing experience.

First and foremost, if you would have told me a week ago that I would be supporting a Best Picture nomination for a three-hour long documentary about a subject that has been explored by the media ad nauseam, I would have laughed in your face.

But after seeing You Can See Everything, I’m actually tickled to admit that it’s everything you’ve heard it is and more. This film is unlike anything you’ve ever seen, with remarkable events, interviews and quotes that are far stranger than fiction. It’s hard to gobsmack this seasoned critic, but I was astounded by the outrageous twists and turns that popped up around every corner. This, and more, to me merits Best Picture consideration.

Now because the film has so many surprises, to write a typical review would do readers a disservice. Instead, my You Can See Everything review contains a list of spoiler free “fun facts,” if you will, that will hopefully enhance your viewing experience, pre or post watch.

The You Can See Everything review that’s not are review

1. The odd couple: It’s co-directed by a deadpan comedian and a 30-year-old documentarian

Nathan Fielder is a 43-year-old Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director and producer. He worked briefly at a brokerage firm before quitting to pursue comedy. He got his start as a correspondent on CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, then broke out with Comedy Central’s Nathan for You (2013–2017), in which he plays a slightly more awkward version of himself offering advice to struggling businesses.

The show produced cultural landmarks like Dumb Starbucks and the Emmy-nominated finale Finding Frances. He won a WGA Award in 2019 for the show. Next came HBO’s The Rehearsal (2022), which won him an Independent Spirit Award, and Showtime’s The Curse (2023), his first scripted series, which he created with Benny Safdie and which also stars Emma Stone.

Co-director Lance Oppenheim is a 30-year-0ld American director and produce. His debut feature, Some Kind of Heaven, (which I really enjoyed) about life inside The Villages, Florida, began as his undergraduate senior thesis. It premiered at Sundance and was released by Magnolia Pictures and Hulu in January 2021.

Early on, he was a 2019 Sundance Ignite Fellow, one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” and the youngest contributor to The New York Times Op-Docs. Since then he’s made Spermworld and the HBO docuseries Ren Faire. His style pushes nonfiction away from talking-head setups and into color-soaked fantasias. He also made his scripted debut with Primetime, which premiered at Venice just days before Telluride.

The pairing works because Oppenheim brings a gift for striking visuals that gives the film cinematic grandeur, while Fielder brings the nebbishy Fielder-ness. This is the first time the two have worked together this closely, and it turns out to be a very potent combination.

2. The film exists because the subject made the first move.

The story starts with Holmes herself. A24 executives met with Holmes after she called them looking for exposure. That deal fell through. The parties couldn’t reach an agreement, so the project was shelved.

Fielder said he got involved after hearing that Holmes and Evans had tried and failed to pitch a documentary about them to A24. He and Oppenheim teamed up, approached A24 with their own vision, and voila! It was back on the books.

3. Because the subjects were all in on the film, the access is extraordinary.

The film was shot secretly over three years and captures Holmes in the 34 days before she reported to prison. Fielder interviews the couple in bed, on the beach, at the dining table, in the kitchen and quite shockingly, in the bathroom. Fielder affirmed to several sources that he can’t say how weird it was to be there.

4. Nobody saw it coming.

While many high profile films enjoy splashy promotional campaigns they day they’re green-lit, no one even knew the film existed until a few weeks ago. The first hints of it dropped at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival which was held over Labor Day weekend.

The festival is famous for withholding its full lineup, and this year it saved the biggest surprise for Sunday. On September 6, A24 dropped the teaser just as the movie was hitting the screen for the first time in Colorado. A24 revealed the film to the world at the same moment and announced an October release.

The secrecy paid off. A full trailer followed on September 23, opening with Fielder asking Holmes whether she really feels she did nothing wrong, and she answers earnestly that she did not. A24 says it’s the studio’s second most viewed trailer ever, behind Backrooms.

The reaction was summed up on social media, with comments like “WTF did I just watch?” The directors had actually been able to keep the project quiet for more than three years!

6. It runs for 174 minutes, and it’s nearly all conversation

Yes, it’s talky, but still, it’s riveting. The nearly three-hour film consists mostly of conversations, and they are so tense, shocking, revealing and often discomfortingly amusing.

6. The Best Picture pitch is real, but it’s controversial

No documentary has ever been nominated for Best Picture, even 17 years into the expanded field. A24 lists the film for both Best Picture and Best Documentary consideration, and Academy rules let a film submitted in Documentary Feature qualify for other categories too. It could make history if it’s nominated but the film’s blurry line between performance and reality is a question awards voters may wrestle with. I know I do.

Rated R

2 Hours 54 Minutes

If this You Can See Everything review encourages you to break free and see it at the cineplex, get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

In order to avoid spoilers, Lisa Johnson Mandell’s You Can See Everything review is not so much a critical examination of of the film, but gives you critical information that will hopefully enhance your viewing experience.