There are a lot of strange things that happen in You Can See Everything. The A24 release about Elizabeth Holmes is the talk of the town, and one reason why is just how weird people act in the movie. One story that directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim don’t recount in the movie is Holmes’ partner’s father showing up to her trial every day back in 2021. It’s every bit as strange as anything that happens in what could be the best movie of the year.
The Evans Family Fully Support Holmes
In the movie, we meet Holmes’ parents, but Evans’ parents don’t appear. I didn’t really think much of it until a colleague sent me an old article from NPR about Bill Evans, Billy’s father, and his behavior in the courtroom during Holmes fraud trial. Billy is still sending tweets in Holmes’ name, so I guess it’s not surprising that his father would sit in the courtroom and defend his son’s partner and the mother of his grandchildren. It’s still startling, though.
In the article, it’s said that Bill first hid his identity from reporters, calling himself “Hanson.” The trial happened during the pandemic, so Bill was wearing a mask, and the hotel magnate wasn’t recognized at first. According to the article, Bill (or Hanson) was there to do more than observe:
He maintained more or less the same story: He was a car enthusiast who was acting as a media watchdog, making sure the news coverage matched what he observed in court. He distrusted how the press has treated Elizabeth Holmes, he said.
It honestly sounds a lot like Billy in the movie. Both feel the need to protect Holmes from the media, which, admittedly, makes Billy a little foolish for inviting the filmmakers into their home. Why Bill felt the need to hide his identity is a little odd, though. Did he really think that reporters at one of the most high-profile trials in the last decade weren’t eventually going to figure it out? Of course, Billy and Elizabeth are still maintaining their false narratives about Theranos, so maybe Bill thought he could get away with it.
Eventually, though, a reporter did put it together, as the article goes on to point out:
‘I couldn't believe my eyes,’ said New York Times reporter Erin Griffith. ‘I immediately started asking other reporters, and they were like, 'I think it was him,' and when we got inside and saw him even closer, it was like, 'Yep that was him.'’
The story says that Bill “mixed truths and untruths.” That sounds like Billy and Elizabeth, right? Later, when asked about using the name “Hanson” instead of his real name, he claimed Hanson was a nickname. It's incredible how similar his behavior is to his son's and Elizabeth Holmes in the film. Mixing in the truth with half-truths or even lies. Protecting Holmes. Acting weirdly when pressed for answers... I feel like Fielder and Oppenheim could make a sequel about this!
You Can See Everything, which is going into its second weekend of the 2026 movie schedule, is a movie that is grounded in the idea of an unreliable narrator. You learn over the course of the film not to trust anything you see or hear, and reading this bit of information about Billy Evans’ father adds another layer to the onion that is impossible to peel back completely.
