Elizabeth Holmes Documentary Posts Record Alamo Drafthouse Presales for A24

A three-hour documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has become the second-best presales title at Alamo Drafthouse, trailing only Marvel’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” Deadline reported. A24’s “You Can See Everything” has the strongest advance sales of any A24 release and any documentary at the Sony-owned dine-in chain. It opens in limited release Oct. 16. “Doomsday” does not reach theaters until Dec. 18.

Lance Oppenheim and comedian Nathan Fielder directed the 174-minute film. They shot it in secret in early 2023, during Holmes’ final weeks of freedom before she reported to federal prison. A jury convicted her of defrauding investors in 2022, years after her blood-testing company collapsed. Fielder sits opposite Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, in long, deadpan conversations as the couple discuss reviving Theranos. The picture is framed in a boxy 4:3 ratio, with tight close-ups.

Early critical response is unanimous. The film holds a 100% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes from 20 reviews. It premiered unannounced at the Telluride Film Festival on Sept. 6. On Tuesday, a screening at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles drew “Obsession” director Curry Barker, “Lanterns” co-creator Damon Lindelof and actress Clea DuVall, among others. Reports so far cite rankings rather than ticket counts, so the scale of the demand remains unclear.

The making of the film carried friction. Neither Holmes nor Evans has seen the finished picture, the directors said at the screening. Holmes remains incarcerated, and Oppenheim said Evans has not watched it because his relationship with the crew soured. Fielder said communication broke down after Evans tried to control the process.

Fielder has said he approached the project after reading John Carreyrou’s book “Bad Blood,” which he considered a thorough account of the fraud, and became curious about Holmes’ own perspective. He added that many people from her past declined to participate. During production he watched the series “The Dropout” with Holmes and Evans, and a scene depicting Holmes and her former partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani set off an emotional reaction. Amanda Seyfried, who played Holmes in that series, appears in the documentary as herself and in character.