Overview
- The three‑hour film opened the weekend of Oct. 16 to an estimated $15 million and near‑perfect review and audience scores, selling out thousands of showings on a limited number of screens.
- Directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim gained unusually embedded access to Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks before she began serving her federal prison sentence and filmed parts of her household life with partner Billy Evans.
- The movie shifts form partway through by using staged reenactments, a visible director presence and an actor to represent Holmes in scenes, choices that critics praised for artistry and questioned for documentary ethics.
- Theranos whistleblower Tyler Shultz told CBS Mornings that Holmes appears on screen as a victim in an abusive relationship with Evans while still holding her accountable for Theranos’ harms, a comment that has intensified public debate about Holmes’s agency.
- A24’s secret Telluride rollout and viral marketing have fueled awards speculation and raised broader questions about how future nonfiction projects should handle consent, control and long‑term access to vulnerable subjects.