Culture 4 min read By Trevor Kendall
A24's 'You Can See Everything' Opens Strong in North America as International Audiences Wait
Nathan Fielder's three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary earned $15.6 million in its U.S. debut, but A24 is rolling the film out slowly outside North America, leaving overseas audiences waiting as spoilers and memes spread online.
A24's «You Can See Everything» has become one of the year's most unexpected box office stories, opening to $15.6 million in the United States and igniting a wave of headlines, spoilers, memes and online discussion. But audiences outside North America are discovering that seeing the Nathan Fielder documentary about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is not yet an option, as the distributor pursues a staggered international release.
The three-hour film has turned into a cultural event in the U.S., where its opening haul far exceeded expectations for a documentary of that length and subject. The buzz has been fueled by social media chatter and the kind of spoiler culture that typically surrounds major franchise releases rather than nonfiction filmmaking. That dynamic has made the wait more frustrating for international viewers, who can follow the conversation online but cannot yet buy a ticket.
A24's strategy appears to be a deliberate, territory-by-territory rollout rather than a simultaneous global launch. The approach is common for specialty distributors seeking to build word of mouth and manage marketing costs across different markets, though it is less typical for a project already generating this level of online attention. The gap between the North American debut and international availability has become a talking point among film fans, some of whom have noted the irony of a film titled «You Can See Everything» being unavailable in much of the world.
The documentary centers on Holmes, whose blood-testing startup Theranos collapsed after claims about its technology were exposed as misleading. Fielder, known for his deadpan, boundary-pushing television work, directed the film, which runs roughly three hours and has been positioned as a major bet by A24. The company has not publicly detailed the full international calendar, leaving overseas exhibitors and audiences awaiting confirmation of dates.
For A24, the strong domestic opening validates its investment in a long-form documentary at a moment when nonfiction films rarely draw crowds in theaters. The studio has built a reputation for turning niche or unconventional projects into events, and the early performance of «You Can See Everything» fits that pattern. The challenge now is sustaining momentum long enough for the international rollout to benefit from the conversation already underway.
The spoiler problem is particularly acute. In the U.S., viewers have been discussing the film's revelations and structure in detail, and that material circulates globally regardless of release schedules. Distributors often try to compress international windows when a film becomes a social media phenomenon, but A24 has so far stuck with its staggered plan.
The film's performance will be watched closely as a test of whether documentary filmmaking can still command a wide theatrical audience and whether a slow international rollout can work in an era of instant online discourse. For now, North American audiences have access to the film, while much of the rest of the world can only read about it.
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