r/boxoffice • u/chanma50 Best of 2019 Winner • 1d ago

💯 Critic/Audience Score 'You Can See Everything' Review Thread

I will continue to update this post as reviews come in.

Rotten Tomatoes: Fresh

Critics Consensus: N/A

Critics Score Number of Reviews Average of Rated Reviews
All Critics 100% 43 9.50/10
Top Critics 100% 16

Metacritic: 97 (21 Reviews)

Sample Reviews:

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic 5/5 - You’ve seen elements of “You Can See Everything” in documentaries before. But you’ve never seen them combined like this. It’s a true original.

Cary Darling, Houston Chronicle 5/5 - "You Can See Everything" throws into sharp relief audience's expectations while skewering the entire idea of the traditional documentary and its contemporary off-shoot, reality TV.

Tim Grierson, Screen International - Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s extraordinary documentary soon goes in unexpected directions, becoming an uneasy treatise on love, reality television, and the ways filmmakers try (and often fail) to capture ’real’ life.

Monica Castillo, AV Club A- - Like Welles used his camera to play tricks on audiences some 50 years ago, Fielder and Oppenheim use their film to shake up their audience’s understanding of how we believe one another.

Liz Shannon Miller, Consequence A - The film is more than an extension of Fielder’s blending comedy and documentary with shows like The Rehearsal — it’s an evolution upon it. It asks everyone involved to look at themselves, and face the difference between perception and reality.

Marshall Shaffer, Slant Magazine 3.5/4 - You Can See Everything innovatively probes this gray area between the fabulations made about Elizabeth Holmes and those made by her.

David Fear, Rolling Stone - You will likely have no idea what you have just seen, besides that it's simply, unabashedly, unashamedly brilliant.

Alison Willmore, New York Magazine/Vulture - In You Can See Everything, the closer we get to her, the less knowable she is — a set of pointillist dots in the shape of a person.

Kristy Puchko, Mashable - You Can See Everything is a masterwork of interrogation, not only of the whole Holmes situation but of documentary as a form itself.

Adrian Horton, Guardian 5/5 - There is something extremely satisfying in watching Fielder’s sharp angles tangle with Holmes’s disposition of guileless warmth, a strange and compelling chemistry building within a reality distortion field.

Nick Schager, The Daily Beast - Not just the film of the year—it’s a documentary that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the form’s all-time greats.

Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal - With co-director Lance Oppenheim, Mr. Fielder gets around the restrictions on his access to the locked-up Ms. Holmes with his customary hilarious meta-narrative brilliance.

Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com 4/4 - The significance of 'You Can See Everything' is clear as a film that might advance a new cinematic language in the mainstream non-fiction sphere.

Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter - What begins as a fascinatingly intimate portrait of a deluded or disingenuous scammer reveals as something even wilder, more ambitious and less predictable, until we’re left to ponder what value a personal truth has at all.

Cortlyn Kelly, IndieWire A - For how disquieting it is, the film never goes too long without forcing a laugh.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety - It’s a one-of-a-kind reality-TV-as-hangout-movie psychodrama circus. Yet it’s been made with a spirit of true inquiry, driven by Fielder’s acidly quizzical personality, and it gets its hooks in you.

SYNOPSIS:

Thirty-four days before she’s sent to prison, notorious Silicon Valley founder Elizabeth Holmes invites a skeptical film crew to document her every move. What begins as an intimate portrait of an enigmatic felon becomes a mind-bending three-year journey into the abyss. From boundary-pushing directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim comes You Can See Everything.

CAST:

  • Elizabeth Holmes as Herself
  • Nathan Fielder as Himself
  • Billy Evans as Himself

DIRECTED BY: Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim

PRODUCED BY: Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, Tatiana Bears, Maggie Ambrose, Jack Davis

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Emily Osborne

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: David Bolen

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Alex DiGerlando

EDITED BY: Adam Locke-Norton

MUSIC BY: Ari Balouzian

RUNTIME: 174 Minutes

RELEASE DATE: October 16, 2026

1.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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70

u/Dima110 1d ago

I have never seen anything from this Nathan Fielder guy. But these positive reviews have me intrigued. What do I need to know/expect so that I don’t go into it with the wrong mindset?

90

u/confusing_roundabout 1d ago

Nathan For You is hilarious. It's like Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, but instead of restaurants it's struggling small businesses, and instead of helping them he gives them the most batshit crazy ideas and then follows through to absurd conclusions.

And then The Rehearsal is the natural successor to it. I can't even explain it but just know that The Rehearsal S2 is one of the funniest seasons of TV I've ever seen. It's utterly insane.

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u/WebHead1287 1d ago

The thing about The Rehearsal season 2 is that it’s also insane. Like some of the leaps that are made are jaw-dropping. My eyes have never been more glued to a show.

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u/confusing_roundabout 1d ago

Yeah, when episode 3 had him say "be warned - what you're about to see gets a little weird" nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. My jaw was literally on the floor when he opened that door and stepped out. I'm giggling now just thinking about it.

Masterpiece of a show.

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u/WebHead1287 1d ago

I watched that episode in an airport dude. It was a surreal experience

7

u/dbull10285 1d ago

I was so curious what was about to be so weird that it forced Nathan to add the disclaimer, and I was not disappointed. Comedy gold

1

u/hhhisthegame 11h ago

This kinda stuff is why I think he's also so brilliant, and obviously a comedic genius despite his seeming authenticity in his awkward persona. We know that everything he does is weird, so when he says that what you're about to see might be strange, it gets the audience because if NATHAN thinks it's weird, what can we possibly be in for? Just such a funny way to set up the expectation, and impressive that it doesn't disappoint because it really is so insane.

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u/shadowCloudrift 1d ago

As funny as The Rehearsal's season 2 was, the intent is actually serious and something good came out of it: https://consequence.net/2026/09/nathan-fielders-the-rehearsal-helped-push-pilot-mental-health-bills-through-senate/

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u/DrGarrious 1d ago

See i found it far less funny than it was intriguing and thought provoking (it is very funny though).

But it was just such a great exploration of that particular issue.

3

u/hhhisthegame 11h ago

It's honestly never clear how much of what Nathan does is serious, and how much is supposed to be absurdist comedy.

0

u/kfadffal 10h ago

I feel like often he's knowingly doing both at the same time.

1

u/wheretohidethrice 19h ago

Before I dig in this thread, I started watching the rehearsal on a flight, was the plane crash one, is that season 1 or 2, asking to hopefully avoid spoilers, also watching that plane crash as I sit in turbulence was not my brightest moment, but I should give it another go sometime

2

u/confusing_roundabout 19h ago

Season 2. It's incredible but yeah you can't watch it on a plane as the entire season is about trying to stop plane crashes.

1

u/HareWarriorInTheDark 13h ago

Give S1E1 a watch to explain the premise, then watch s2. It’s an incredible season of TV. Just not on a plane lol

1

u/hhhisthegame 11h ago

That was Season 2 and it was IMO much better than 1, though 1 was also fun in its own way, and the first episode of S1 was brilliant

1

u/tragicjohnson84 12h ago

I've never been able to take that Evanescence song seriously since then

-2

u/s-to-the-am 1d ago

Really disliked Nathan for you always felt incredibly predatory for laughs

14

u/confusing_roundabout 1d ago

Yeah I can see that. Towards the end I did notice how many of the businesses were ran by immigrants who didn't speak too good English and it did start to feel a little exploitative at times. But the joke was always about the idea and not really at the expense of the business owners imo.

The Rehearsal S2 is much better in that regard.

118

u/LordXenu45 1d ago

He graduated from one of Canada's top business schools with really good grades. (Watch Nathan for You and The Rehearsal)

11

u/connor_500 1d ago

Expect the unexpected

9

u/LLAPSpork 1d ago

He was fucking hilarious in Tour de Pharmacy.

6

u/valkrycp 1d ago

Well, you should expect a few things:

- This "documentary" experiments with the medium / genre itself and will not be a traditional documentary

  • It features some re-enactments, which are also not your typical documentary re-enactments - but diving into the details too much would be a spoiler.

- Nathan Fielder is a deadpan / awkward style comedian, but usually he plays an exaggerated (more awkward) version of himself in his shows. This movie, however, I believe is him at his most "normal" / "serious" - still awkward and weird, but understands he's the documentarian here so he will play the "straight / no nonsense" guy but will confront his subjects with brutal honesty.

- Its 3 hours long, much longer than most documentaries, and will also feel slow and boring at first but then you'll likely find the scenario increasingly compelling until its a must-watch type ordeal.

- Everything Nathan Fielder makes is a parody or experimentation of it's own format / genre, so the film is going to challenge your perception of what a "documentary" is in an artistic, but humorous way. It's best to let go of your expectations and just go along for the ride.

•

u/After_coffee_dump 42m ago

This is a great breakdown

13

u/Alternative-Big6779 1d ago

Just watch nathan for you and the rehearsal. Both are great

13

u/hunterVnorris 1d ago

The best way to describe him is "psychological terrorist".

5

u/Unhappy-Attention760 1d ago

He accomplished The Miracle Over the Mojave

3

u/Mushy1852 1d ago

He's best known for the Miracle over the Mojave

3

u/peeinherbut 1d ago

You should check out an episode or two of Nathan For You or S2 of The Rehearsal beforehand if you can. I recommend the Horseback Riding episode.

3

u/Touchlamp 1d ago

Also see Lance Oppenheims work too. If you haven't either. "Some Kind of Heaven" is a great documentary. Among his other works.

3

u/Much_Carpenter_1579 13h ago

What was fascinating about Nathan for You was Nathan's ability to get random strangers to do really extreme and bizarre - sometimes disturbing, often hilarious - things. This was due both to (i) Nathan's innate awkwardness, but undeniably (ii) the fact that a camera was being pointed at them. People will, apparently, do and say very strange things when the promise of TV fame is flashed before them. For one of many examples, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNxvUrWQ_Q

Ultimately, the show became self-aware that this was its real intrigue - the fact that we are a (increasingly successful) TV show is what's making people behave in these ways which are making us a successful TV show. The show leaned into exploring this meta idea, turning the lens back around on itself like an infinite mirror gallery until you ultimately have no idea how much of what you're seeing is "real", or whether that question is even worth asking. The finale explored this brilliantly. Laughs aside, Nathan's work is significant in the reality/documentary space because it actually dares to acknowledge an otherwise unspoken premise of these genres - if we're filming something, how genuine can it really be?

Pairing this approach with a figure like Holmes, who herself is already laden in questions of authenticity, is just bound to be fireworks

3

u/Horror_Bob 12h ago

My favorite aspect of Nathan For You was highlighting how easy media packages are to peddle. When I was in college for Public Relations we talked a lot about this. Basically, news stations are so willing to fill airtime that if you do their work for them, you get on TV. Create a video package that comes with the story pre-written for them and they'll eat the shit up. So many episodes he's able to get on the local news most likely because he sent them a simple media package and then BAM instant free marketing

1

u/hhhisthegame 11h ago

I think even more interesting than him making people do bizarre things was that he was able to create these layered sketches, with twists, turns, pacing, build, surprises, all while he was the only person (allegedly) 'acting'. What's impressive to me isn't just what he makes people do, but how he's able to tell a comedy story that can compete with some of the most cleverly written sitcoms (like Arrested Development, Community) without an actual script, or even willing participants. Now how much of this is real and how much is set up is unclear (And that's part of the charm I guess) but either way it's amazing

3

u/dan2376 1d ago

All of his stuff is great. Definitely watch Nathan for You and the Rehearsal. But if you watch anything watch S2 of the Rehearsal. It is absolutely jaw dropping and insane. It's what made me a huge fan of Nathan Fielder.

2

u/Vegan_Honk 1d ago

Oh this is gonna be beyond anything that can really be put to words.  You might wanna familiarize yourself a little bit with their former materials. 

2

u/squaretableknight 1d ago

He’s like if Stanley Milgram had a Comedy Central show

2

u/PointAbject7717 1d ago

I think there are kind of two sides to him that he plays really well. One side is the really absurdist humour, and the other side is that he really likes to turn the lens in itself and really examine the role of the camera, the audience and the formats (often specifically reality tv).

For a barebones short list that I think would be relevant Nathan Fielder viewing in order to get a sense of his evolution and perspective, I would suggest

Nathan For You:
S1E4 - Gas Station/Caricature Artist
S2E2 - Souvenir Shop / ELAIFF
S3E1 - Electronics Store
S4E7 (Finale): Finding Frances

The Rehearsal Season 1 (there are only six episodes, but I think S1E6 is closest to what I'm expecting for YCSE)

Obviously this evolves further in The Rehearsal Season 2 and The Curse and I'm a huge Nathan fan so I would recommend all of it, but if someone were wanting to prep that's what I would recommend.

1

u/hhhisthegame 12h ago

Honestly, expect the unexpected? lol. Im in such awe of his mind, he is so good at playing with the absurd and taking you on a journey with unexpected and surreal twists and turns. The first episode of The Rehearsal (S1E1) really shows a good example of the ways he can surprise you as he keeps turning a situation more absurd in surprising ways as you watch things unfold. S2E3 of The Rehearsal is probably the most iconic episode of the show, and could probably be watched standalone to get an understanding of how he works. There's nothing like it for me, I feel like he's a comedic genius, because he seems to operate on a different plane than the rest of us but it's all very clever. But I think you need an appreciation for the absurd, strange, and surprising, but it's in such a unique way...it's hard to put a finger on it but if it clicks with you you'll know lol

1

u/diebartdie99 6h ago

Hollywood is still very Zionist, I highly doubt it’ll get an Oscar even if it’s a good documentary

1

u/quaranTV 1d ago

I would watch The Rehearsal S1 if you want a taste of Fielder before watching YCSE.

-3

u/whatsupwithbread 22h ago

At this point I don’t understand how anybody hasn’t seen a single Nathan fielder show or project. It’s consistently lauded as some of the best television on tv

2

u/imeeme 11h ago

I think I saw part of one YouTube video. Wasn’t for me. I don’t like his vibe.

1

u/danceontheborderline 20h ago

I only just watched it all last month! I wanted to prep for the Holmes doc because it was getting so much buzz, and started Nathan for You - three weeks later, had binged all four seasons and both of the Rehearsal. Entirely addicting.

1

u/scolbert08 15h ago

TV audiences are hyper fractured and siloed

1

u/meowingtrashcan 13h ago

streaming services have balkanized what shows we can see, and not everyone lives in countries with the same access