The documentary ‘You Can See Everything’, which explores the rise and fall of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, has become an unexpected cultural phenomenon, generating widespread online memes, lookalike contests and discussions among audiences.

The three-hour film, directed by Nathan Fielder, takes viewers into Holmes’s world, beginning a month before she is due to enter prison over her fraudulent claims about Theranos’s blood-testing technology.

The film blends documentary, reality television and mockumentary elements, examining whether Holmes genuinely believed in her company’s claims or deliberately deceived investors and the public.

The A24 production has become a box office success, earning around $80 million in the domestic market and generating Oscar buzz.

Its popularity has also extended beyond cinemas, with audiences and social media influencers embracing its darkly comic tone and Fielder’s deadpan questioning style.

The film’s unusual approach has attracted attention from academics and students alike. Kate Rennebohm, an assistant professor of film studies at Lawrence University, said students had been discussing the documentary with her regularly, including through unsolicited emails.

Nora Stone, an assistant professor of film production at the University of North Alabama, said the film had moved beyond the conventional documentary format.

Researchers and film scholars have also drawn parallels between Holmes’s story and the wider technology industry, particularly the growing influence of major technology companies in the age of artificial intelligence.

Rennebohm said Holmes represented a broader culture of self-deception and denial within Silicon Valley and the American technology industry.

Stone described the film as a reflection of the current political climate and called it a “perfect encapsulation of the post-truth era”, drawing parallels between Holmes’s repeated denials and those of US President Donald Trump.