JAWA TENGAH — Nathan Fielder dan Lance Oppenheim memaparkan pengalaman tinggal bersama Elizabeth Holmes selama proses pembuatan dokumenter "You Can See Everything" dalam sesi tanya jawab di New York Film Festival. Dokumenter berdurasi tiga jam itu memotret 34 hari menjelang vonis 11 tahun penjara Holmes atas kasus penipuan Theranos. Fielder mengaku sempat merasakan disonansi kognitif karena Holmes tampak tulus meski ia tahu Holmes telah berbohong.
Dokumenter "You Can See Everything" garapan Nathan Fielder dan Lance Oppenheim resmi tayang perdana di New York Film Festival setelah sebelumnya mencuri perhatian lewat pemutaran kejutan di Telluride Film Festival. Penonton di New York tertawa, terkejut, dan gelisah sepanjang durasi tiga jam film yang menampilkan momen-momen tak terduga menjelang masa hukuman Holmes.
Holmes dan pasangannya, Billy Evans, mengundang Fielder dan Oppenheim masuk ke rumah mereka 34 hari sebelum Holmes menjalani hukuman 11 tahun penjara atas kasus penipuan investor Theranos. Meski telah divonis bersalah, Holmes tetap menyatakan dirinya tidak bersalah. Dokumenter ini menjadi kali pertama Holmes berbicara panjang lebar di depan publik setelah bertahun-tahun menghindari sorotan.
Bagaimana Fielder dan Oppenheim Bisa Masuk ke Rumah Holmes
Oppenheim mengirim surel dingin kepada Fielder setelah mengetahui sutradara itu menonton sebagian dokumenternya, "Some Kind of Heaven". Keduanya kemudian berteman dan sempat mengunjungi Magic Castle bersama beberapa tahun lalu.
Di sana, seorang pesulap meminta penonton menyebut nama selebritas untuk trik sulap jarak dekat. Seseorang menyebut nama Elizabeth Holmes, yang mengingatkan Oppenheim bahwa pendiri Theranos itu pernah menghubungi A24 untuk mencari seseorang yang mendokumentasikan hidupnya.
Fielder yang telah membaca buku "Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup" (2018) merasa tertarik dengan kejatuhan Theranos. Lewat A24, ia mengatur pertemuan dengan Holmes.
Keraguan Fielder Selama Proses Syuting
Fielder mengungkapkan pengalaman aneh saat pertama kali bertemu Holmes. Ia menilai Holmes tampak tulus di beberapa momen, namun ia tetap sadar bahwa Holmes adalah pembohong.
"When I met her, I remember having this weird experience where she seems so genuine at times. But then I'm like, 'no,' and clocking and tracking my thoughts and being like, 'Okay, I know she's a liar.' It was a weird mental thing. From there, we were like, 'Can we roll the dice on something if they were open to having cameras in?'" ujar Fielder.
Holmes dan Evans setuju membiarkan Fielder serta Oppenheim merekam keseharian mereka. A24 memberi kru kecil itu keleluasaan untuk menghentikan proyek jika cerita yang dicari tak kunjung ditemukan.
"It wasn't until we started shooting that moments would happen — some of them are in the film — and then after Lance and I would talk about what we thought happened there. We'd completely disagree on what something meant to us and what we thought was happening. Then we were like, 'Oh, this is really interesting. If we can't agree on what's happening, there's something here.' And our curiosity sort of just like drove us from there," kata Fielder.
Disonansi Kognitif di Balik Layar
Oppenheim menyebut seluruh kru yang mengerjakan film ini merasakan disonansi kognitif serupa. Setiap orang memiliki sudut pandang berbeda terhadap momen-momen yang tampak biasa.
"Every person that worked on this movie was going through a similar feeling of cognitive dissonance. We would unpack the day's events, and no one could agree on the seemingly mundane moments that would transpire. Everyone had a different point of view. So Nathan and I started thinking, 'If we can just try and get out of the way of this and capture this and attempt to bring people as close to that experience of being there as possible, then maybe there's an interesting project to be made out of this," ujar Oppenheim.
Teaser pertama "You Can See Everything" viral karena kamera menyorot wajah Holmes yang berkata kepada Fielder bahwa ia tidak menyembunyikan apa pun. Trailer lengkapnya menampilkan Fielder yang tinggal 24 jam bersama Holmes dan Evans, duduk di atas tempat tidur mereka, serta momen Holmes menangis saat wawancara.
"I cannot tell you how weird it was that we were there. Truly, to this day, we're still like — anyways, sorry. I wouldn't think I'd be the person you would want for your final period. I'm a nice person, I do believe, but I'm not the most comforting. You know what I mean? I think you know," tutur Fielder disambut tawa penonton.
Alasan Holmes Memilih Fielder
Fielder tidak bisa menjawab saat moderator menanyakan alasan Holmes dan Evans memilihnya untuk mendokumentasikan hidup mereka. Ia hanya mengingat pernyataan Holmes yang menyebut proyek ini sebagai kisah manusia.
"She said, 'First and foremost, we see this as a human story.' It's so hard to understand where they may have been coming from, but maybe there was a sense that inviting someone who was like a friend of theirs, no one would take that seriously. I don't know, it's so hard to speculate," ujar Fielder.
Oppenheim membandingkan pengalaman itu dengan film "Stalker" (1979) yang menampilkan zona mistis pemberi keinginan terdalam manusia. Menurutnya, batas realitas yang mereka pahami seolah menguap selama proses syuting.
"The laws of reality and everything that we thought was going on outside just evaporated, and no one could agree. I feel like our brains were scrambled. We were also unsure for so long if we even had anything that was worthwhile to make and put together," kata Oppenheim.
Nama Fielder sendiri mencuat lewat serial komedi "Nathan for You" sebelum ia dikenal lebih luas melalui pendekatan dokumenter yang membaurkan realitas dan fiksi. "You Can See Everything" menambah daftar karya yang menyorot sosok kontroversial dari sudut pandang personal, bukan sekadar rekaman peristiwa hukum.
