Although “You Can See Everything” is hardly on a path to make $260 million domestic and about half a billion worldwide, its box office run has been the most improbable, historic, and perhaps generation-defining since “Obsession” mere months ago. Both films have become a Gen Z touchstone in a rapid amount of time, both have defied the boundaries of their respective genres, and both may be about to face each other on the Oscar Best Picture bubble – but their similarities do not end there.
“You Can See Everything” is a documentary about notorious real-life felon Elizabeth Holmes, and “Obsession” is a horror movie about fictional woman Nikki. And yet both have become the most toxic love stories of 2026, or something even more sinister than that, as “You Can See Everything” goes down the rabbit hole of Holmes’s relationship with and love of her husband Billy Evans, and “Obsession” shows the violent devolution of Nikki thanks to a wish made by would-be boyfriend Bear. In surprisingly similar ways, both “You Can See Everything” and “Obsession” have inspired their most heated discussions and arguments over the nature of their respective central relationships, and who the real “monster” in them really is. As a result, both of them have also led to a great amount of disagreement over the destructive actions of their lead female characters, and who is really at the root of them.
Given that Elizabeth Holmes was convicted of billion-dollar scams and fraud, and is still in prison for it, and that Nikki ends up outright killing a few people, it’s all too easy for surface-level viewers to throw the book at them. But since Nikki’s actions were committed under the influence of a toxic spell cast by a toxic man, and since Holmes’ defenders have long claimed she was under the influence of men who used her for years, their cases have treaded into far thornier issues of abuse, male control, misogyny, and women changing their entire selves to be what they think a man wants them to be.
In the case of “You Can See Everything,” Holmes’s up until now less-publicized marriage and dynamic with Billy Evans – and how Evans is shown to take control of Holmes’ image before and after she heads to prison – has fueled new skepticism about whether Holmes is a victimizer in league with all of Evans’s schemes, a victim being used by a toxic and self-serving man, or both. As such, for the second time in 2026, a Gen Z breakout movie and box office phenomenon revolves around how we view and judge an objectively destructive woman, her perhaps self-destructive dependency on a needy and all too mediocre man leeching off of her, how that man still has her convinced – if not brainwashed – of how true their love is, and how our own respective points of view on gender, love, relationships, and much more influence what we think it all means.
At least in “You Can See Everything,” Nathan Fielder and his team are actively trying to get to the bottom of it all; whereas “Obsession” pointedly has no one in Nikki and Bear’s inner circle offering real help, even as Nikki spirals. But there’s nothing to stop the mad final form of Nikki that Bear turns her into, just as there is ultimately nothing Fielder and his cohorts can do while Holmes proclaims her devotion to Evans in some nearly Nikki-like trances, under whatever influence has fueled her.
The fact that Nikki, unlike Holmes, is under magical influence is a big difference, especially because it turns some of Bear’s actions into outright assault. Holmes has her own history of being assaulted, as is mentioned almost too casually at one point, and although nothing Evans does in the film is on that level, it calls into question if Holmes’s unshakeable love comes from her history and trauma making her play a part for him, even if not on a Nikki-level. Yet unlike Nikki, she might just be knowingly playing up a persona to use him, and even Fielder, like she used others at Theranos.
Months after its release, “Obsession’s” online discourse has taken many forms, with discussions about Nikki, Bear, who the real villain between them is, what the movie is really saying about them, and what it may be oblivious to or worse when it comes to framing abusive relationships. Now “You Can See Everything” is already poised to restart the cycle when it comes to Elizabeth and Billy, who the real villain between them is, what the movie is really saying about them, and what it too may be accidentally or intentionally oblivious to, or worse. At least so far, the online buzz over “You Can See Everything” is more celebratory than heated, though “Obsession’s” example shows that might not stay the case down the line.
Of course, “You Can See Everything” and “Obsession” aren’t just capturing Gen Z, but a surprising cross-section of other demographics. The memes of both their most famous moments and trailer snippets have certainly helped, and impersonations of Holmes and Nikki’s most “unhinged” moments are bound to keep spreading this Halloween and beyond. But if only young people and millennials were watching and remembering all this, “Obsession” wouldn’t have made $260+ million, and “You Can See Everything” wouldn’t be threatening to become the second $100 million domestic grossing documentary in history.
Soon enough, that logic is about to be tested on Oscar voters, as “Obsession” has been a prospective Best Picture nominee for months and “You Can See Everything” has just crashed the entire race. But while it isn’t so rare for a horror movie like “Obsession” to cross over into the Oscars anymore, “You Can See Everything” is trying to become the first ever documentary to make it into Best Picture. Though if it does, there’s a sense that “Obsession” is at least one of the movies that may be snubbed to make it happen – which even the Next Best Picture team shares since “Obsession” has fallen out of their top ten while “You Can See Everything” has barged in.
While “Obsession” and “You Can See Everything” are now the twin Gen Z and unlikely box office sensations of the year, is there really room for both of them to make it into Best Picture? Or, despite how they have shared the same rise and same unlikely themes, will the more traditional Oscar voters feel they have to choose between one or the other as the “Gen Z option?” Incredibly, if they both get nominated in the Golden Globes “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement” race, maybe that much mocked and maligned category will prove an important bellwether if one beats the other.
There are other factors in the way, since “Obsession” is seemingly the top Oscar season priority for Focus Features – which almost without fail gets its top film a Best Picture nomination in this era – and “You Can See Everything” is still crammed alongside “The Debut, “The Invite,” and “Club Kid” in A24’s roster. “Obsession” is also the biggest box office hit in Focus’s history, yet in a year with other blockbuster contenders like “The Odyssey,” “Project Hail Mary,” “Dune: Part Three,” and maybe even “Michael,” perhaps voters will decide they have the blockbuster demographic covered without needing “Obsession.” And while “You Can See Everything” won’t be a hit on that level, being a potentially $100 million film and one of the biggest documentaries ever could be enough of an added draw on Oscar night.
“Obsession” was the summer’s biggest sensation in rewriting the rules and expectations of what moviegoers from all generations really want to see in theaters. Somehow, “You Can See Everything” has done the exact same thing this fall, and has even dipped into some of “Obsession’s” deepest, darkest themes and discourse about relationships and love gone sideways, without so much as shedding a drop of blood beyond Holmes’s infamous tests. So for those already tired or riled up over arguments on Nikki and Bear, Elizabeth and Billy are now set to take those batons this fall – and maybe refuse to give them back until Oscar season is over.
“Obsession” and “You Can See Everything” have become intertwined as the touchstone box office stories of 2026, and perhaps of a new moviegoing generation. However, are they still going to stand together all the way up to the Oscars, or can there only be one Gen Z/Internet-fueled sensation in Best Picture this year, if any? In a year where Nikki, Bear, Elizabeth, and Billy have pushed the boundaries and tolerance of what a healthy couple really looks like, which “love story” will the Academy fall in love with to a healthy or unhealthy degree?
Do you think “Obsession” or “You Can See Everything” will receive a Best Picture nomination? Could they both get nominations? What other nominations are you predicting it’ll receive? Please let us know in the comments section below and on Next Best Picture’s X account, and check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.
