On September 6th, hundreds of eager Telluride Film Festival attendees poured into a secret screening of a previously unannounced film. Phones were taken away, lights were dimmed, and Nathan Fielder introduced his newest project, “You Can See Everything.” He and Lance Oppenheim directed this documentary, which revolves around the fraudulent, imprisoned founder of Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes. If that description sounded surprisingly conventional for a project from creatives who brought you titles like “The Rehearsal,” “The Curse,” “Primetime,” and “Some Kind of Heaven,” rest assured that this documentary is anything but. Thirty-six days before Holmes was jailed, she invited Fielder and the crew of “You Can See Everything” to her home to film for twelve hours at a time. True to its name, very little is left to the imagination in this intrusive, fascinating, genre-bending documentary. The three-hour-long documentary premiered to rapturous raves at the Telluride Film Festival, leaving audiences stunned by the sheer absurdity of what they had just witnessed. It currently sits at a 92 on Metacritic, making it one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year.
The path for “You Can See Everything” to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature is clear. It will almost certainly be the most talked-about documentary of the year, as its high-profile subject is sure to garner general audience eyeballs and its highbrow appeal will drum up critical passion. As a result, it could be one of the rare documentary films that thrive in theaters, propelling its narrative further. It is also well-positioned to be the critics’ leader in Documentary Feature, considering how strong the premiere’s reception was. But will it appeal to the taste of the documentary branch? Fans of Fielder know that his work often blends “reality” with deliberately scripted segments, and he continues this trend in “You Can See Everything.” While “Four Daughters” also included acted-out sequences and was nominated for Best Documentary Feature, the rumors about “You Can See Everything” indicate that the film is far more unorthodox in its presentation. The real test, then, is at awards voted on by documentarians. Should it be embraced by the likes of the International Documentary Association Awards or the Cinema Eye Awards, there should be no issue with it clashing with the branch’s sensibilities. It is also worth noting that the second season of Fielder’s nonfiction, reality-bending series “The Rehearsal” received a nomination at the Cinema Eye Awards, indicating there is already some respect for his style of documentary filmmaking.
The acclaim for this film cannot be denied, as it has immediately become one of the year’s buzziest films. If it manages the nomination, it could easily win the category, since the entire Academy gets to vote for the winner. However, with the way “You Can See Everything” has completely dominated the festival discourse upon its surprise premiere, you have to wonder if the ceiling is truly only Best Documentary Feature. Many have hailed it as their favorite film of the year upon leaving the theater, if not one of the best documentaries they have ever witnessed. If this film is as envelope-pushing as reviews would have you believe, what’s stopping critics from pushing this not only as a Best Documentary Feature contender, but as a Best Picture contender? If it were a narrative feature with these mind-blowing responses and high critical scores, I am certain it would be in all of our Best Picture predictions.
There has never been a documentary film nominated for Best Picture. The only film to even come close was “Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness,” which was nominated for Best Unique and Artistic Picture at the first Academy Awards. Since then, documentaries have rarely received Oscar nominations outside of the category they are relegated to, with a handful picking up Original Song and Original Score nominations here and there. Even Best Editing, which is considered crucial to the storytelling of a documentary, is a category that documentaries have historically been ignored in; only “Hoop Dreams” and “Woodstock” managed nominations.
Could the blend of narrative and documentary storytelling that makes “You Can See Everything” a potentially harder sell in Best Documentary Feature also make it a significantly easier sell in Best Picture? The work of cinematographer David Bolen of “Primetime” fame, editor Adam Locke-Norton of “The Curse,” and composer Ari Balouzian from “Some Kind of Heaven” distinguishes the film from the conventions of a documentary feature. You watch “You Can See Everything” unfold much like you would a narrative feature, but with the haunting knowledge that everything you are witnessing is happening in real-time. It’s the kind of monumental filmmaking that critics and the industry could easily rally behind as proof that innovation is still possible in 2026.
Though there is speculation about a potential screening at New York Film Festival, “You Can See Everything” has yet to be announced for any other film festivals. And until October, when the film has its official release, we will not know if general audiences will be as receptive to this type of filmmaking. All we can go off of currently are these glowing responses. Judging from these responses, “You Can See Everything” has the juice to win top prizes at critics’ groups, if it is screened widely enough. Even though A24 already has three traditional Oscar contenders in “The Debut,” “The Invite,” and “Club Kid,” the studio should nonetheless capitalize on the momentum and the year-best reviews this film is receiving. Best Documentary Feature is not the limit for this one-of-a-kind movie, Best Picture is.
Are you excited to see “You Can See Everything?” Do you think it could contend in Best Picture? 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.
