Warning: This story contains spoilers for You Can See Everything
You Can See Everything has won over critics with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score and audiences with a record-setting $15 million box office for its opening weekend.
The next question is: Can it win over voters, especially given its hybrid what-is-it-exactly-format? Is it a doc? Is it a feature? Is it both?
We read through the rulebook (so you don’t have to), and here’s where it’s eligible:
ACADEMY AWARDS
Best Picture: No documentary has ever been nominated for Best Picture before, but if any film was ever going to break that precedent, what better film than You Can See Everything, which has shattered all expectations since its sneak peek at the Telluride Film Festival. It has burst into the Top 10 of our leaderboards, and Gold Derby has confirmed that A24 will submit it for consideration in this category.
Best Documentary: On the face of it, yes, it’s obviously eligible — but as keen watchers of this category know all too well, the nomination phase is determined by the 700 or so members of the Documentary Branch, who have been loath to let populist fare make the cut. The road to the shortlist is littered with heartbreak for popular and/or celebrity-driven films — like Hoop Dreams and Won’t You Be My Neighbor. Perhaps the branch will change its ways, and perhaps You Can See Everything will be too big to ignore, but don’t be surprised to see the year’s most successful doc ignored here.
Best Director: Co-directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim will be entered in this category. After this weekend’s smashing debut, the duo has vaulted to No. 9 on the Gold Derby experts leaderboard, putting the helmers in position to contend.
Below-the-line: You Can See Everything is eligible for all other crafts, including cinematography and editing, for which it is certainly competitive. A24 also plans on submitting the film for consideration for production design, makeup and hairstyling, sound, and score.
Acting: Yes, Amanda Seyfried does qualify per Academy rules, and she is fully credited in the film for reenacting Elizabeth Holmes’ comments. But no actor has ever been nominated for a role in a documentary — another precedent that could be broken. Meanwhile, both Fielder and Christopher Abbott (who stands in for Holmes’ partner, Billy Evans, opposite Seyfried) are billed as reenactors, so they would technically be eligible as well.
The nominations will be announced Jan. 22.
GOLDEN GLOBES
The Globes may not have a documentary category and don’t allow unscripted fare to compete in the main categories — but it does recognize box-office achievement, and You Can See Everything could well qualify. Per Globe rules, “Documentaries are only eligible for the Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award if the production meets the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award criteria set forth in these rules.” Those rules require a box-office total of $150 million worldwide — of which $100 million must come from the U.S. domestic box office. Only one documentary has made $100 million in the U.S. — Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. With $15 million banked in its first weekend, You Can See Everything could hit that goal.
The nominations will be announced Dec. 7.
CRITICS CHOICE
You Can See Everything has already been nominated by the CCA for the organization’s separate Documentary Awards for Best Documentary Feature, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music Score.
As for the main Critics Choice film awards, You Can See Everything is eligible for all categories, even as a documentary. “CCA policy is that eligibility and/or participation in any of our awards events or celebrations have no effect on eligibility and/or participation for any of our other awards events or celebrations,” the organization tells Gold Derby. Given the critical raves, expect to see You Can See Everything represented in Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and all the highlighted crafts.
The nominations will be announced Dec. 4.
ACTOR AWARDS
Unfortunately, You Can See Everything isn’t eligible for the Actor Awards, which require films to be scripted — and the rules clearly state that documentaries are not eligible. The filmmakers can submit a petition to consider Seyfried’s performance, and the final decision will be made by the Awards Committee.
BAFTA AWARDS
Unclear, but we’re waiting to hear back from BAFTA. The rules don’t specifically preclude the film from submitting, but U.K. voters may not be as obsessed with this uniquely American story.
WRITERS GUILD AWARDS
The WGA does have a documentary category, but there’s no official screenplay for the film, so it’s not eligible here.
DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS
You Can See Everything would be eligible for Documentary Film, naturally. But it could also break through for Theatrical Feature Film as well.
Nominations will be announced Jan. 6 for docs and January 7 for features.
PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS
You Can See Everything is eligible for Documentary Motion Picture as well as the Theatrical Motion Picture Award.
Nominations will be announced Dec. 8 for docs and Jan. 8 for theatrical.
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS AWARDS
It’s eligible just as a documentary here. Per the rules: “All Documentary Feature Films and Documentary Series Episodes must be submitted in the Documentary Award category.”
Nominations will be announced Jan.12.
ACE EDDIE AWARDS
“Please don’t submit the same title in more than one category,” the rules state — which means the filmmakers would have to choose between documentary and theatrical feature drama.
Nominations will be announced Jan. 14.
