‘You Can See Everything’ & ‘The Dropout’ Scenes Blurring the Line Between Fact & Fiction

Audiences, critics, cinephiles, and true crime fans are going bonkers for Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim‘s A24 documentary You Can See Everything, and for good reason. The film follows disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who, just 34 days before reporting to prison for fraud, invites Fielder and a camera crew into her home to document her life with partner Billy Evans and their two young children. What follows is a bizarre, unsettling, and utterly fascinating filmgoing experience that blurs the lines between fact and fiction, leaving viewers questioning just how much of what they’re seeing they can actually believe.

However, while the documentary has plenty of twists and turns to keep audiences talking, it also brings renewed attention to another project about the notorious Theranos founder: Hulu’s acclaimed 2022 limited series The Dropout, starring Amanda Seyfried as Holmes. And it turns out the two projects have more in common than their central subject.

Throughout You Can See Everything, Fielder and Oppenheim revisit key moments from The Dropout, drawing attention to specific scenes that take on an entirely different meaning when viewed through the documentary’s increasingly strange lens. What might have seemed like straightforward dramatizations of Holmes’ rise and fall suddenly become part of a much bigger conversation about truth, deception, and the way Hollywood shapes our understanding of real-life events. And considering who’s behind the camera, you can bet things get pretty weird.

For those who have seen Fielder’s genre-bending documentary and want to revisit The Dropout, or are watching the Hulu series for the first time, we’re breaking down the key scenes and themes referenced in You Can See Everything and why they matter. Buckle up. It’s a head-spinner. Warning: Big, huge spoilers ahead for both The Dropout and You Can See Everything.

Holmes watches The Dropout

In You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder shows the real-life Elizabeth Holmes scenes from Hulu’s The Dropout on camera after she says she never saw it. One of these comes from Episode 1, in which Amanda Seyfried portrays a teenage Holmes dancing to Alabama’s “I’m in a Hurry (And Don’t Know Why)” in front of a poster of Steve Jobs. Fielder asks Holmes, “Did you really do that?” A stunned Holmes responds that she did not.

Holmes is then shown a scene from Episode 2 featuring Seyfried portraying her aboard a yacht with venture capitalist Don Lucas and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison (played by Hart Bochner). During the scene, Holmes pitches her company to the wealthy investors, with Ellison aggressively urging her to “get the f**k*ing money.” Watching Seyfried’s portrayal of the encounter, the real Holmes begins to break down and cry, asking Fielder to shut off the TV.

Holmes’ breakdown at the scene between her and Sunny

In You Can See Everything, Holmes breaks down in tears while watching a scene from The Dropout in which Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (played by Naveen Andrews), her former romantic partner and Theranos COO, buttons up her shirt. She lies down to cry. Holmes tells Fielder that the moment brings back painful memories of their relationship, which she alleged during her 2021 criminal trial involved years of psychological and physical abuse.

Amanda Seyfried watches Holmes watch her

In a particularly bizarre moment, Fielder shows Amanda Seyfried footage of the real Elizabeth Holmes watching and reacting to Seyfried’s portrayal of her in The Dropout. It’s a strange case of art imitating life, then life reacting to art, and then the artist watching that reaction. The moment blurs the lines between the real Holmes, the actress who played her, and the increasingly complicated layers of reality and simulation that make You Can See Everything such a head-spinner.

Amanda Seyfried becomes Elizabeth Holmes again

After Holmes leaves to serve her prison sentence, Fielder brings in Seyfried to portray her in reenactments for the documentary. Having already played Holmes in The Dropout, Seyfried finds herself stepping back into the role, only this time in a film that blurs the lines between documentary and dramatization. The film plays with the uncanny similarities between Seyfried’s performance and Holmes’ carefully constructed public persona, from her famously deep voice to her intense, unblinking stare. It’s a strange case of an actress playing a real person, then returning to play that same person in a documentary about what’s real and what’s not.

In a way, You Can See Everything becomes the spiritual sequel to The Dropout as Seyfried reprises her Emmy-winning role since Holmes can no longer participate in the film due to her incarceration.

Two very different versions of Elizabeth Holmes

You Can See Everything presents two competing versions of Elizabeth Holmes. There’s Amanda Seyfried’s portrayal in The Dropout, which depicts Holmes as a fraudster, and there’s the version her partner, Billy Evans, wants the world to see: a loving mother and misunderstood woman. Through personal videos and conversations, Evans attempts to reshape the public’s perception of Holmes.

Things get complicated when Seyfried discovers that Evans has been using his power of attorney to manipulate Holmes’ image and voice through social media and AI. The two clash, raising an uncomfortable question: Who really has Holmes’ best interests at heart?

In an unexpected twist, the actress who became famous portraying Holmes as a fraudster emerges as her advocate, while the husband who claims to be protecting her appears more interested in controlling her narrative.

Once again, Fielder blurs the line between fact and fiction, leaving audiences to wonder whether they’re seeing the real Elizabeth Holmes or just another carefully constructed version of her.

The Dropout, Now Streaming, Hulu

You Can See Everything, In Theaters, A24