The Japan Times - Tech scammer Elizabeth Holmes focus of documentary by absurdist Nathan Fielder

The buzzy film from Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, out in US theaters October 16, captures the reclusive former executive's world in the month before her incarceration for fraud at her now-defunct health technology company Theranos, whose lofty promises it couldn't deliver.

Theranos falsely touted technology capable of performing medical tests using only a few drops of blood.

The project took Silicon Valley by storm in the early 2010s, as young entrepreneur Holmes drew investors -- including Henry Kissinger, Carlos Slim and Rupert Murdoch -- to her project.

But her fall proved just as rapid.

The sensational trial of Holmes ended in her 2022 sentencing to more than 11 years in prison for fraud and conspiracy.

The scandal fueled a media circus and was chronicled in a book, multiple podcasts, and the biographical mini-series "The Dropout" that starred Amanda Seyfried.

Holmes herself shied from the public eye, making the surprise release of the documentary "You Can See Everything" all the more astonishing when it debuted to high praise at the Telluride Film Festival in September.

- 'Really sad and hard' -

The film follows her life at home with partner Billy Evans and their two children, a hybrid of documentary and reality television portrayal that drew laughter, gasps and applause at a Los Angeles screening this week.

The Canadian comedian, writer and producer Fielder is famous for harnessing the power of awkwardness, cringe and deadpan wit to great, if unsettling, comedic effect.

He and Oppenheim said it was Holmes who initiated conversations with independent entertainment company A24 about documenting her daily life.

After a few meetings with the filmmakers, they said she invited them into her California home.

And things got strange.

Tuesday's screening was attended by celebrities including Zach Cregger, Hannah Einbinder, Meg Stalter, Aziz Ansari and Hasan Piker, and during a discussion afterward the directors described their experience as "really sad and hard at times."

"I still am not sure to this day, like, what I experienced, and it's one of the reasons I'm excited for it to like come out and more people see it, because it was just a small group for so long," Fielder said.

"Maybe it being out there, like everyone could help me understand what I went through a little bit."

- 'Uncomfortable' -

Oppenheim said neither Holmes nor Evans voiced familiarity with his work when they opened their doors.

Fielder -- the comic behind hit series like "The Rehearsal" and "Nathan For You," shows that blur the line between reality and fiction -- said there was "never a great explanation" as to why he should helm the project, "or why you would want to spend your last month of freedom in a decade with this guy."

"I like to see myself as like a nice person overall, but still, I wouldn't choose me."

Fielder is a constant presence in the documentary, a decision made on the fly, the filmmakers said.

Close-up shots of him face-to-face with Holmes have ricocheted across social media and already become the stuff of meme gold.

Oppenheim said as the process rolled out it began to feel like "the only way, maybe, to actually make this is also to have someone kind of confront, you know, their delusions on certain aspects."

In early images released by A24 Holmes is shown maintaining intense, unnerving eye contact with Fielder, scenes that made even him "uncomfortable," he said.

"But I also felt like I was -- these moments were so odd, and I was the one, like, ruining them or, like, bailing on them," Fielder continued.

"At a certain point, I was like, 'I'm not going to stop.' If she's looking at me, I'm just going to keep looking at her."

The directors said living under the same roof as the documentary subjects created tensions and even saw Evans, who hasn't seen the film, try to exert control over production.

But the filmmakers were never thrown out.

Like her partner, Holmes also hasn't seen the finished product, Fielder and Oppenheim said. She remains in prison.

K.Yoshida--JT