You Can See Everything is eyeing Oscar history as it seeks to become not only the first documentary nominated for Best Picture but potentially the first to win. And the path exists for A24‘s zeitgeisty hit to accomplish the unprecedented feat — if everything breaks right.
The Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim film documenting Elizabeth Holmes before her prison sentence will need to win over Motion Picture Academy voters to make it into the 10-film Best Picture race. Across Oscar history, documentaries have received nominations outside of Best Documentary Feature. Four documentaries have received nominations for Best Score, 12 for Best Song, and five for Best International Feature Film.
Separate from those categories, seven documentaries have been recognized in other main and technical categories in the group’s 98-year history: Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (an honorable mention for Best Unique and Artistic Picture in 1929), With Byrd at South Pole (Best Cinematography winner in 1930), Louisiana Story (Best Story in 1949), The Quiet One (Best Original Screenplay in 1950), Navajo (Best Black-and-White Cinematography in 1953), Woodstock (Best Sound and Best Film Editing in 1971), and Hoop Dreams (Best Editing in 1995).
These examples show that Academy voters have occasionally looked beyond the documentary category when a film is highly acclaimed and popular. And that is what You Can See Everything has in spades.
The film has grossed a surprising $64.8 million at the box office in just three weeks. It has a 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 98 on Metacritic, while becoming a major cultural phenomenon with audiences. Its organic word of mouth and rapid rise over such a short period are unlike anything audiences have seen since Best Picture winner Parasite.
All season long we have been waiting for a film that could challenge the instant front-runner, The Odyssey. Christopher Nolan’s film is the inarguable juggernaut in the category and considering the stature and cinematic achievement of the director and his film, it will be difficult to topple the epic Homer adaptation. In the current Gold Derby odds, the closest competitor is La Bola Negra, which has dominated the festival circuit. But in recent weeks, powered by word of mouth first within the industry and then among charmed viewers, You Can See Everything has skyrocketed up the charts.
We can look to the Emmys for a recent analog: Widow’s Bay came out of nowhere to break containment and dominate the cultural and industry conversation, ultimately sweeping to major victories over early favorite Hacks. Does You Can See Everything have that same kind of run in it?
For You Can See Everything to begin to build awards momentum, it will need a strong performance beginning at the regional critics’ prizes. Critics frequently zig where the Gold Derby odds zag, so it’s not out of the question that You Can See Everything could rack up top-film prizes over The Odyssey and La Bola Negra at the Big Four: the New York Film Critics Circle, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National Society of Film Critics, and National Board of Review. The NYFCC will be first out of the gate with its announcement on Dec. 1, followed by NBR the next day.
Critics Choice nominations follow two days later, on Dec. 4. The organization’s voters like to see themselves as Academy Award tastemakers and could reward You Can See Everything with nods in the picture, director, and supporting actress races.
As the season transitions to Hollywood guilds and other precursor awards, You Can See Everything will face significant hurdles as a documentary. As a documentary, it is ineligible at the Golden Globes (except for Best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement), Actor Awards, and Writers Guild of America Awards, and is only eligible for Best Documentary Film at the Directors Guild of America Awards. The Odyssey, meanwhile, should rack up nominations across the board.
The big tell will be the Producers Guild of America Awards. To determine the top feature award, the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, the guild uses the same preferential ballot as the Best Picture category at the Oscars, the only precursor to do so. If You Can See Everything manages to crack the 10 contenders at the PGAs, that would strengthen its Oscar bid. Again, The Odyssey will be a tough Cyclops to slay, but if we play out the scenario and You Can See Everything scores an upset win, it will head into the Academy Awards like a lightning bolt from Zeus.
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Aside from Best Picture, where Gold Derby is currently predicting an 82% chance of a nomination, You Can See Everything is a contender for Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Score, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Production Design, giving it a package to go with its top bid. It’s fun to play the “what if?,” but it will take more than good vibes and an underdog narrative to take down The Odyssey.
