Oppenheim as a stylist soars here, his visual development compounds with each project, and his fascination with perverse and illicit subjects continues. That is to say the film looks amazing, the framing and patience of the shots, the truncated aspect ratio, the languorous but unrelenting pacing, the close-ups. It all serves to evoke an eerie discomfort and put the audience in the room.
Fielder is a comedian and not a documentarian and his presence is both engaging and at times fumbling. He questions Holmes and her husband directly but a lot of the conversations get diverted into semantics. There's some situational comedy and a couple moments where Fielder attempts to explain comedy to them which is amusing. Fielder is a great foil through which to see the infamous Holmes and allows the film, by nature, to be more free-form and experimental.
It clearly aspires to get at greater themes of Truth but mostly fails, Holmes and her husband are clearly hustlers, this is apparent immediately. Holmes is a criminal and her husband is clearly aspiring to be one, even if we were to believe her semantic cartwheels her "belief" as she puts it is not relevant to her fraud charges and conviction. Not to mention, regardless of any of the particulars, it is also clear both Holmes and her husband are deeply mentally unwell. The fascination from both Fielder and Oppenheim comes across in some ways as privileged(these are not particularly unique subjects, they are hustlers and narcissists and sick people, the scope of Theranos downfall and the media attention are the only reason they are known) and they are unable to draw any meaningful conclusions from the project as a whole.
Unquestionably entertaining and beautiful looking, it feints at potent insights and teases discoveries but ultimately fails to deliver on the ecstatic. It seems to unnecessarily litigate two obvious truths- liars lie, hurt people hurt people.
Currently in theaters.
Rent It.
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