This redefined what I expect from a documentary now. Sure the straight forward just cut and dry documentaries will still excel, but this film flipped everything that we thought of as a documentary on its head. Nathan Felder is the perfect person to document and portray a documentary about the famous fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. If you are familiar with Nathan Felder, you’re going to love this. The first half hits you like a “Nathan For You” episode on the big screen and you almost can’t believe he is staying with Elizabeth Holmes and her family, to the movie flipping into something so completely different and new it’s unbelievable. You get such a personal peak into the life of Elizabeth and Billy, and you really do not know if you are being manipulated or if it is really how they are. I left this having feelings of if Elizabeth (and to a degree her partner Billy) is a sociopath, a psychopath, a pathological liar, and/or a genius manipulator all wrapped into one. Everything you know tells you to believe she is a liar and a psychopath that tricked investors, which very much everything points to, but this documentary solicits sympathy at times and makes you question your perception of her as a person and her lifestyle/motives around the building of a business. Billy is all of those same character traits as well, minus the genius part. Replace it with an egotistical moron that wants nothing but to deceive others to advance himself.
One thing that should not be lost in this film with all the craziness is how well it is shot. There is so much care and detail by Lance Oppenheim and Nathan to get this film to not only be a story of Elizabeth Holmes, but to use zooms, lighting, wide shots, and so many other great techniques to build anxiety, tension and engaging moments in a DOCUMENTARY. It’s truly a craft and I thank the Gods of Hollywood everyday that A24 allows filmmakers to make a film feel so much like art in this way.
Elizabeth and Billy throughout the film give off the vibes that they truly believe the bullshit they live by and have done in their life. That they did not wrong and never have. Even to the point Elizabeth doesn’t think she has ever told a lie. There is no way that she just can’t comprehend that lying is a thing, or that her words (the “can vs capable debate) can be misconstrued by others. I don’t know what would be more unbelievable to me, if she truly believed she has never lied to or wrong anyone with her wording, or if she is deceiving Nathan and us to a degree you could not comprehend. That is what makes this so insane to try to wrap your head around.
Billy is somehow built from the same cloth as I said earlier, but he seems more evil even. Somehow he thinks that using AI to portray Elizabeth, control her Twitter with what he thinks she would say, and go about his life with no thought outside of him being the baddest, smartest and most dangerous person on the planet based on how he carries himself. The way he scurries away when trying to recite his first meeting with Elizabeth after Nathan continues to try to draw more bullshit out of him. How he stops Nathan mid interview with one of his business partners and makes the room a ball full of tension. How he talks with Nathan in the business building about carrying a gun and trying to explain the profit discussion he and Elizabeth have had. All of these interactions you see nothing but a pure psychopath and it’s terrifying he is raising children on his own.
Nathan calling back in Amanda Seyfried to be a part of this was GENIUS. She is such a fun balance in her interactions with him. She brings the true version of Nathan out and even questions if he has been deceived by Elizabeth to a moment where it leaves you wondering if you also saw that unfold. Her visit to Billy’s home was unreal too. She was drunk off her ass, hanging with Elizabeth’s kids, TALKED TO HER ON THE PHONE FOR A SECOND, and got into a political spat with Billy. That wasn’t even what she was brought on for. She was most needed to reenact the scenes Nathan recalls while Elizabeth is in prison. Specifically the mention of Billy asking for profit from the film. It’s a huge storyline discussed, but I feel like it is so much more a catalyst to dive into more of how Billy thinks, and how Nathan has kept a connection to Elizabeth in a way even after she has been imprisoned. She is such a great cameo and you don’t get that in these documentaries where someone so famous is intertwined in such an insane story of a documentary like this.
Finally, I’d like this finish this blog with saying this is definitely in my top 3 of films this year. Obsession is #1. This is either 2 or 3, along with Sheep Detectives of course. As someone that likes documentaries but doesn’t love them or seek them out, the buzz here was too big to ignore. I am glad o listened to the hype, because this lives up to it in every which way. I will be eager to rewatch this when available on digital as well! Just an insane experience of a documentary that I did not expect.
C.A. ROETHLE
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