How Emma Stone Sparked the Major Plot Twist in the Documentary ‘You Can See Everything’
The documentary You Can See Everything takes a sudden and disruptive narrative turn halfway through its runtime, shifting from an intimate look at Elizabeth Holmes’s final days of freedom before prison into an entirely different kind of project. Co-directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim faced a severe creative crisis once Holmes entered federal custody, as nobody remaining in her inner circle was willing to cooperate with the filmmakers.
Faced with a stalled narrative and uncertain how to conclude or continue the documentary, Oppenheim voiced his concerns about the production’s future. The solution arrived through actress Emma Stone, who bridged the gap by connecting the filmmakers to Amanda Seyfried. Seyfried previously portrayed the disgraced Theranos founder in the Hulu original series The Dropout, a performance that heavily influenced public perception of Holmes.
Initially, Seyfried harbored reservations about joining the documentary. Familiar with Fielder’s notoriously subversive comedic and documentary style, she worried that she might become the target of one of his elaborate practical jokes. However, after Fielder and Oppenheim met with the Mean Girls star and screened the entire first half of the filmed footage, her hesitation vanished and she agreed to participate.
This connection altered the trajectory of the film. Recreations of conversations developed organically after Seyfried expressed a desire to step back into the role of Holmes. Following the mid-film pivot, the documentary relies heavily on Fielder’s personal recollection of events combined with Seyfried’s dramatic portrayals. Rather than remaining a simple subject of reenactments, Seyfried evolves into an active participant within Fielder’s investigation, contributing her own analytical perspective.
By the conclusion of the documentary, Seyfried assumes the role of an interviewer, directing the same probing questions toward Fielder that he originally posed to Holmes. This structural pivot introduces deeper central questions regarding whether the absolute truth can ever truly be uncovered. For her behind-the-scenes intervention, Stone earned a special thanks in the film’s credits.
Stone and Fielder maintain an established professional and personal relationship. The pair previously starred as a married couple navigating a strange existence on the satirical comedy thriller series The Curse. Following that collaboration, Stone and Fielder began developing Checkmate, an adaptation of a book by Ben Mezrich focused on the chess scandal involving Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann. Stone also moderated a question-and-answer panel during the surprise premiere of You Can See Everything at the Telluride Film Festival in September.
You Can See Everything is currently playing in theaters.
