Throughout the first half of this three-hour documentary—on Elizabeth Holmes, as she prepares to go to prison for crimes related to massive fraud—I was wondering: How the hell are they going to get three hours out of this situation?
The woman who tried to convince the world that her Theranos corporation had an amazing medical testing technology—it was complete bullshit—actually goes to prison with plenty of runtime to spare. Then the answer to how they will fill the time comes, and the movie actually winds up feeling short and incomplete at three hours. Its final act is as weird of a thing as you will ever see in a documentary.
Directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim (Oppenheim also directed the recently released Primetime) give us a portrayal of a woman clearly not holding it together as she faces prison time. We also spend many minutes with her manipulative asshole partner, Billy Evans, a creepy and controlling accomplice who should go to prison just for being a complete fucking dick.
Holmes committed some major crimes, and she will pay for them for the rest of her life. This film strips away the public persona of her as a failed Steve Jobs wannabe and literally lets the camera rest inches from her face and non-blinking eyes, as she pleads her case. Fielder, who appears on screen as the interviewer—actually living with Holmes in her final days of freedom—persists in trying to drag the truth out of Elizabeth and Billy.
She committed these crimes, but was it intentional? Or did she really believe in what she was doing, as she repeatedly claims? Is she a victim of high aspirations or delusions of grandeur? Is she just pure evil?
She definitely comes off as a bit unhinged, much of that explained by the fact she’s a new mom, and her remaining days at home are ticking away. She has some sort of naivete switch she turns on that makes her seem extremely unintelligent. You’ll find yourself constantly questioning whether she’s a super-intelligent pathological liar, or a misguided dimwit. Perhaps she’s somehow a little bit of both?
Whatever she is, she’s a freakout to watch for three hours, and Fielder is an often hilarious screen foil. I saw this at 10:30 p.m. (!!!) on a Friday night knowing I wouldn’t be getting home until 2 a.m. The crowd was laughing like it was a screening of Step Brothers. Fielder’s reactions to the lunacy are priceless.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a sequel to this after Holmes gets out of prison. (She’s slated to be released in 2030.) It would be fascinating to get her take on incarceration. I imagine she won’t be grinning as much.
