Elizabeth Holmes: why I devoured the book before the film comes out
29/9/2026
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Pictures: Stefanie Lechthaler
A few seconds of footage were enough. Ever since that snippet, I’ve been engrossed in John Carreyrou’s exposé on the Theranos scandal and fraudster Elizabeth Holmes.
Maintain eye contact; it builds trust. Smile warmly – it makes you seem approachable. Listen carefully. Speak clearly and distinctly. Don’t forget to blink.
Mouth agape, I watch the trailer for You Can See Everything. Elizabeth Holmes looks like someone who’s following tips from a guidebook on human interaction. Strange. Impenetrable. And kind of creepy. «Of course I’m not deceiving you. I’m engaging with you as a human being.»
Sure. That’s definitely something a human would say.
Something’s off here. Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal) looks just as frightened as me. Usually, he’s the one putting others on the spot. Yet in Holmes, he finds his ultimate adversary.
Four weeks before Holmes is set to begin serving her prison sentence for investment fraud, she and her partner, Billy Evans, invite documentary filmmakers Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim to their home to capture their lives. According to film studio A24, this intimate portrait of an absurd criminal unfolds into a «crazy, three-year journey into the abyss.» The documentary is scheduled for release in theatres and on streaming services this autumn. However, we’re still waiting for a Swiss premiere date.
But before A24’s horror documentary hits theatres, I want to delve into Elizabeth’s backstory. To that end, I read John Carreyrou’s exposé on the Silicon Valley fraud case. I’m not quite done, but I’m already deep down the rabbit hole.
Similar to the author and American investigative journalist, who, with his series of articles in the Wall Street Journal published a significant exposé on the blood test fraud committed by the billion-dollar startup. In May 2018, he released the documentary Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, in which he reconstructs the rise and fall of startup founder Elizabeth Holmes.
*You can find the English version here. *
Doubts? You’re out
Warning: this section contains spoilers. If you want to enjoy the book blind, best to skip this next section.
Right in the preface, Carreyrou sets things straight: the promising blood glucose meter doesn’t work. Only a small, select group of people know this – and they keep quiet. Chief Financial Officer Henry Mosley isn’t part of that inner circle. His job is to attract investors worth millions. He manages this with ease, since he himself firmly believes that rapid blood test analysis can reduce research costs for pharmaceutical companies by up to 30 per cent.
But then he finds out about the cover-up, asks questions – and gets fired.
Cash rules everything around me
The book traces Holmes’ journey to becoming a criminal. How she insisted on playing Monopoly games all the way to the end when she was a child, even though the hotels were already piled high on her board. How she managed to find time for an active social life at Stanford University alongside her demanding coursework, yet was still described by her boyfriend as mistrustful and reserved. Or how, as managing director, she always kept her cards close to the chest – and certainly wouldn’t let anyone tell her what to do.
But above all, Bad Blood uses the stories of those involved to show how money and connections alone enable and sustain abusive power structures. Critical voices face legal repercussions, and profit often takes precedence over ethics – even if things appear otherwise at first glance. Carreyrou explains the complex connections between the parties involved in a very matter-of-fact and easy-to-understand way. He explains the relevant technical details briefly and leaves out everything else.
As straightforward as this structure is, the pace of the narrative is relentless: one anecdote follows another. New players, companies and investors appear then vanish again. Through it all, Carreyrou helps me stay on track. Still, there were times reading it when I wished I could take a breather. For my mind if nothing else, which has to sort everything out while simultaneously getting annoyed at our hyper-capitalist system.
If you want to prepare for You Can See Everything, Bad Blood might be the perfect way to do so. It’s refreshing my knowledge of the Silicon Valley scandal. Through the observations of those around her, I gain an understanding of how Elizabeth Holmes constructs elaborate lies and manipulates others to achieve her goals.
Maybe Nathan Fielder felt something similar.
Header image: Stefanie Lechthaler
Painting the walls just before handing over the flat? Making your own kimchi? Soldering a broken raclette oven? There's nothing you can't do yourself. Well, perhaps sometimes, but I'll definitely give it a try.
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