Chasing the Gold: ‘You Can See Everything,’ Including Oscars?

You Can See Everything was a massive surprise at this year’s Telluride Film Festival. The nearly three-hour documentary, co-directed by Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder, follows tech scammer Elizabeth Holmes through her final days before prison, or at least that is how it began, until it became a mind-bending three-year journey. You Can See Everything opened to rave reviews at the Telluride Film Festival and is being heralded as one of the most entrancing and invigorating documentaries ever made. Oppenheim’s Primetime has already entered the conversation this year, largely because of Robert Pattinson’s turn as Chris Hansen, but could You Can See Everything and Nathan Fielder take Oppenheim all the way to the Oscars?

It’s easy to say the Best Documentary nomination is locked up. Still, as we have seen in the past, the documentary branch tends to be one of the more interesting areas for Oscar nominations. Sometimes the most well-known documentary doesn’t get an Oscar nomination. Films like Apollo 11, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, American Symphony, Good Night Oppy, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Dick Johnson is Dead, and Will & Harper are acclaimed but didn’t earn a nomination. While I acknowledge that a documentary’s point isn’t to win awards, and this isn’t a knock on the nominated films, the unpredictability makes it hard to anticipate which films will and won’t earn nominations. However, with You Can See Everything, we don’t just have a documentary made in a way that should appeal to the documentarians who vote on the awards; we have a presenter and subject matter that appeal to a broad audience. Nathan Fielder made a name for himself in comedy, but his eccentric, dry style and passion for going the extra mile (and the mile after that) in filmmaking and storytelling have made him well known.

Let’s assume You Can See Everything isn’t just in the Best Documentary category, but is the runaway favorite as well (which may very well be the case); how far can this film go at the Oscars? My best research shows that only nine films have ever been nominated in the Best Documentary category and at least one other category; the only one that managed an above-the-line nomination was The Quiet One, which earned a nomination in Best Writing, Story and Screenplay in 1949. Since then, documentaries have only earned nominations in below-the-line categories such as Sound, Editing, International Feature, and Music. Suffice it to say, documentaries don’t traditionally make the major award conversation. You Can See Everything blends narrative and non-fiction storytelling in a way that could break through the category and earn a spot in the Best Picture race, as long as voters align with the audience in calling it one of the year’s best films.

The road isn’t easy, though, as this Best Picture race looks stacked from top to bottom. Netflix’s La Bola Negra jumps out as the early favorite. The film crosses through time, telling a story of desire, pain, and sexuality. Netflix has been longing for a Best Picture win ever since the once-film rental service first broke into the Oscar race. They came close with Roma, but the biggest hiccup for the streaming service is that it still doesn’t have a consistent presence in theaters. While this didn’t hurt Apple TV’s CODA, Netflix still hasn’t crossed the finish line with a trophy in hand. However, La Bola Negra has already been confirmed for a 47-day exclusive theater run, the longest in Netflix history, showing both a commitment to the theatrical experience, one Netflix hasn’t shown to date, and a belief that this could be the film to break through at the Oscars.

Right behind it is The Odyssey and director Christopher Nolan, who recently broke his own Oscars curse himself. The Odyssey quickly became Christopher Nolan’s most successful box-office film to date, already earning over $1.7 billion, and the director is looking to follow up his multi-Oscar-winning Oppenheimer with another strong awards showing. The Odyssey is set to do well in below-the-line categories. It is also in prime position in several above-the-line categories, including Nolan, who looks to win his second Best Director Oscar. Yet The Odyssey most certainly won’t be the only blockbuster to make a splash at this year’s Oscars, as Project Hail Mary, which earned over $600 million, and Dune: Part Three both look to show up in this category and several others. The Dune franchise hasn’t been consistent in the above-the-line categories, but each iteration has earned a Best Picture nomination, and the franchise has already won eight Oscars, six for Part One and two for Part Two; with Part Three being the finale, it’s safe to say Dune: Part Three has a spot locked up. For Project Hail Mary, the Andy Weir adaptation is eyeing a massive day come nomination morning, with both below-the-line and above-the-line buzz, as star Ryan Gosling is in the race for Best Actor and screenwriter Drew Goddard aims to earn not only his second nomination, but his second for adapting an Andy Weir novel. While Project Hail Mary’s spring release date is typically early in the modern Oscar era, keeping the film in the conversation throughout the year, recent history shows that if the film is good enough, the release date is just a date.

While Netflix didn’t win Best Picture with Roma, the film’s Oscar success paved a path for international films to perform well at the awards, regardless of the language barrier. The following year, Parasite became the first international film to win Best Picture, reinforcing the idea that international films are here to stay regarding awards. Since then, eight international films have been nominated for Best Picture. To put this stat into perspective, in the 2010s, including Roma, only two international films were nominated for Best Picture. The shift toward including more international films in the lineup is clear, and this year we could see more international Best Picture nominees than ever. Alongside La Bola Negra’s search for a Best Picture nomination, Fjord and All of a Sudden are in the mix. Fjord won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and if recent history says anything, it’s that it has a Best Picture slot locked up. Ryusuke Hamaguchi directed All of a Sudden, and he has two Oscar nominations this decade for Drive My Car, which also won Best International Feature and was nominated for Best Picture. Virginie Efira is a strong contender for Best Actress, and Hamaguchi’s film is also in the running for Best Picture.

Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Martin McDonagh are two directors who have been in this competition for quite some time, and their newest films look to return. Iñárritu has four Oscar wins and followed his Best Picture-winning Birdman with The Revenant, which may not have won Best Picture, but earned him his second (and back-to-back) directing win and gave Leonardo DiCaprio his first win after a career of close calls. With Digger, he’s not only trying to get back into the Best Picture race for the first time in ten years, but also trying to work his magic and win Tom Cruise his first Oscar. While Digger doesn’t have the best reviews, plenty of industry figures have backed it hard, including multi-Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Unlike his recent film Bardo, which never became a real Best Picture contender despite better reviews than Digger, Digger’s Best Picture chances are still cracked open, and that might be enough to make the list of ten. For McDonagh, his last two films have been nominated for Best Picture, and his newest will be, too. The darkly comedic filmmaker has proven he can write scripts that are as thematically rich as they are depressingly funny. Wild Horse Nine brings together a strong cast to tell a story of friendship among people with interesting occupations, set in a setting as bizarre as his films often are. He, too, has performers looking to win in their respective categories, and his name alone carries a lot of weight.

Then you have the indies; this year those look to be The Invite and The Debut. Olivia Wilde’s The Invite remakes the 2020 Spanish comedy The People Upstairs, and the director seems to have found her footing here, letting her performers, including herself, deliver on the bizarre comedic premise. Wilde is also being considered for Best Actress and Best Director, and the film is inching closer to a strong Best Picture nomination. Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Painseemed poised for a Best Picture nomination, but settled for a Screenplay nomination for Eisenberg and a Best Supporting Actor win for Kieran Culkin. The Debut could also be the next step for the actor who recently began stepping behind the camera. The Debut could give Paul Giamatti his first win and Julianne Moore her second win and first nomination in over ten years, and with Eisenberg’s script being strongly considered, it would be shocking if his film wasn’t right there with them.

Even with all these strong contenders, You Can See Everything could still land in the final ten. As of now, the film is far and away one of the year’s best-reviewed movies, with a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, an insane 99 on Metacritic, and a 4.7 on Letterboxd, making it one of the highest-rated films on the platform. It still has a tough path to get in, especially with strong contenders like Obsession and Elsinore that I didn’t even mention, but uniqueness, passion, and strong reactions can go a long way.

Predicted Nominees:

1. La Bola Negra
2. The Odyssey
3. Project Hail Mary
4. Wild Horse Nine
5. Fjord
6. Dune: Part Three
7. The Debut
8. The Invite
9. All of a Sudden
10. Digger

Next Up:

1. Elsinore
2. You Can See Everything
3. Obsession
4. I Play Rocky
5. Artificial
6. Behemoth!
7. Club Kid
8. Possible Love
9. Primetime
10. Being Heumann