‘You Can See Everything’ Is Gunning for Oscar History Everywhere

Few films arrive in awards season with the kind of mystery that surrounded this one. It debuted as an unannounced secret screening, and the buzz only grew from there. Now the awards campaign behind A24’s surprise documentary is just as ambitious as the film itself.

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s three-hour look at Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in September. It was made largely in secret over three years, and filming began 34 days before Holmes was required to report to federal prison. After she begins her sentence, the film shifts structure and incorporates reenactments, a technique Fielder previously used in ‘The Rehearsal’.

The movie opened in limited release on October 16 and expands nationwide on October 23. And now A24 has laid out just how big it’s dreaming. The studio will submit ‘You Can See Everything’ for Oscar consideration in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Documentary Feature, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound and Best Original Score.

‘YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING’ will be submitted for Oscar consideration in the following categories: • Best Picture • Best Director • Best Supporting Actress • Best Documentary Feature • Best Production Design • Best Cinematography • Best Costume Design • Best Film Editing • Best Makeup and Hairstyling • Best Sound • Best Original Score

— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 19, 2026

No documentary has ever been nominated for Best Picture. A24 is pushing for the film to be considered there anyway, which would be a first in Oscars history. Deadline notes that Best Picture may even be a more realistic goal than Documentary Feature, a branch that has drifted more international in scope recently.

Oscar watchers are already weighing in. Gold Derby lists the film 11th among potential Best Picture nominees, and Kalshi traders give it a 16% chance of winning, behind ‘The Odyssey’ at 47% and ‘The Black Ball’ at 19%. Critics have been enthusiastic too, with one outlet awarding it a perfect 10 out of 10.

The category that would truly be earth-shattering is Best Supporting Actress. Deadline points out that no actor has ever been nominated for appearing in a documentary in the 99-year history of the Academy Awards. Academy rules only bar uncredited performances, and the film’s reenactment performers, including Amanda Seyfried, are name-checked in the end credits.

Seyfried, who played Holmes in Hulu’s ‘The Dropout’, was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for ‘Mank’. Gold Derby notes she and the film can’t qualify for precursors like the Golden Globes and the SAG Actor Awards, which only accept scripted movies. That makes the Critics Choice Association one of the few early stops where her work could be recognized.

The craft categories are a serious part of the pitch. The film was shot by David Bolen in a 4:3 frame with long zoom lenses, letting uncomfortable takes linger. Deadline also singles out Ari Balouzian’s haunting music and Adam Locke-Norton’s editing as deserving strong consideration.

Reviews back up the idea that this isn’t a standard documentary. Variety’s chief film critic described it as a one-of-a-kind reality-television-as-psychodrama experience, while another critic compared its hall-of-mirrors structure to Orson Welles’ ‘F for Fake’. That blend of narrative and nonfiction is exactly what makes it a hard sell for some voters and an exciting one for others.

YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING, a documentary by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Featuring Elizabeth Holmes. Only in theaters this October. https://t.co/b3Pcx0Se2o

— A24 (@A24) September 7, 2026

The path isn’t smooth. Variety reports that BAFTA may not go for the film, and the film has no credited screenplay, so it won’t be eligible for the Oscars’ original or adapted screenplay categories. The Directors Guild is open to it in both top categories, and the Producers Guild will consider it for both the theatrical and documentary awards, while the American Society of Cinematographers will only take it as a documentary.

Meanwhile, the Critics Choice Association has already nominated it for five awards at its separate Documentary Awards ceremony on November 8, including Best Documentary Feature. Early signs of support exist, but the field is crowded, and the Academy’s documentary branch can be unpredictable.

Whatever happens, the push signals A24’s confidence that audiences and voters are ready for something unconventional. The film’s mix of access, performance and reenactment has left many viewers unsure what’s real, which is partly the point.

For an industry hunting for fresh energy, a three-hour film about Elizabeth Holmes may be exactly the disruptor the Oscars need. Even a single nomination outside the documentary category would rewrite the record books.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!