"We are in San Diego" is one of the first lines of dialogue in "You Can See Everything," which has already become one of the biggest documentary box-office hits of all time.
The film, directed by Nathan Fielder ("Nathan for You," "The Rehearsal") and Lance Oppenheim ("Some Kind of Heaven," "Primetime"), chronicles the 34 days before Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes began serving her 11-year prison sentence in May 2023. Holmes and her partner, 34-year-old Billy Evans, invited the filmmakers and their small crew to document their lives with their two young children at their rented beach house in Del Mar. Much of the film's first half unfolds during a cloudy April by the ocean in San Diego.
Holmes grew up in Houston, but Evans — who many viewers interpret as the movie's antagonist — has deep roots in San Diego. He comes from a family that has helped shape the city's hospitality industry for more than 70 years.
Billy Evans' influential San Diego family
The family owns Evans Hotels, a luxury hotel company that includes the Bahia Resort Hotel and Catamaran Resort Hotel and Spa in Mission Bay, as well as The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.
Evans' grandparents, William and Anne Evans, founded Evans Hotels in 1953. Their first property, the Bahia Resort Hotel, became the first commercial hotel lessee on Mission Bay, according to the company's history. At the time, the bay was still largely undeveloped marshland.
Over the decades, Evans Hotels expanded, and Billy's father, Bill Evans, became a powerful figure locally. In 2012, Voice of San Diego called Bill Evans a "man of influence," highlighting the many regional boards he sat on, his close relationships with local politicians and his family's frequent donations to various political campaigns.
In 2012, Bill Evans secured a new 40-year lease agreement from the city for his Mission Bay resort, in a deal that Voice of San Diego described at the time as "peculiar for several reasons." The deal was rushed through City Council to take advantage of low interest rates, did not require immediate redevelopment of the property and included a provision allowing for a 50-year lease if a major redevelopment project was approved.
Bill Evans opposed a plan to expand the Convention Center in 2011, which would have imposed a tax increase on his hotel guests. In 2016, Evans Hotels was among a small group of locally owned hotel companies targeted for a boycott by a coalition of San Diego Chargers advocates. The group argued that the hotel industry had been an influential in blocking the hotel tax increases needed to fund the new stadium.
In 2018, Evans Hotels filed a lawsuit alleging that local unions were using "sham" environmental and land-use issues as leverage against public lease agreements, according to Voice of San Diego. The legal battle dragged on for years and stemmed in part from Evans Hotels' attempt to build a hotel at Sea World. Bill Evans alleged that union opposition derailed the project.
Around the time of the movie's release, Evans Hotels provided a statement saying: "Billy Evans does not work for Evans Hotels, holds no ownership in the company, and is not in any way involved in the business."
Who is Billy Evans?
Billy Evans attended Francis Parker School, a private school in San Diego, before going to MIT, where he earned a degree in economics. After graduating, he attempted to launch a concierge medical services startup. After that failed, he worked at LinkedIn and a self-driving car startup called Luminar Technologies, according to WIRED.
Evans met Holmes in 2017 in San Francisco, and the two started dating right around the time Holmes was indicted by a federal grand jury, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In a memorable scene in the film, also featured in the trailer, Evans tells Fielder that he fell in love with Holmes during their very first conversation. Fielder asks whether he was worried that Holmes was “scamming” him. Billy says, “100%, but what did she have to gain from me?” Fielder replies, “Well, isn’t your family rich?”
Holmes told People that she believes Evans' family was initially skeptical about their relationship. However, the family ultimately supported Holmes during her trial. Evans’ mother wrote a letter to the judge in support of Holmes before her sentencing. And, according to NPR, Evans’ father attended Holmes' trial under an assumed name, introducing himself to reporters as “Hanson,” a concerned citizen" who fixed up old cars for a living. He also told reporters he believed Holmes' treatment by the media had been unfair.
The couple got engaged in 2018. Although Evans refers to Holmes as his wife, she confirmed in a 2025 interview with People that they are not legally married.
Holmes and former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani were ordered to pay more than $450 million in restitution following their convictions for fraud. Balwani and Holmes were in a romantic relationship for more than 10 years while they worked together at Theranos. "You Can See Everything" appears to show Holmes and her current partner, Evans, working together on another ambitious medical-testing venture.
Billy Evans' latest venture
In May 2025, The New York Times reported that Evans was raising money for a new startup called Haemanthus that promised to develop "a radically new approach to health testing." In a post on X, the company explained that it was using lasers and AI to improve on technology for testing for diseases like cancer and Parkinson's, making it "Faster. Smaller. Accessible." The company also said, "This is not Theranos 2.0."
Viewers may remember a scene from "You Can See Everything," filmed in 2023, where Evans described his new venture to Fielder as an attempt to "put the band back together and do it all again." In response, Fielder asks, "Theranos 2.0?" and Evans says, "Yeah."
Haemanthus says that Holmes "has zero involvement with the company." Although the film clearly depicts Holmes and Evans collaborating on a business project and making calls to investors, it is unclear whether that project is connected to Haemanthus. The company was incorporated in 2024, according to Benzinga via Yahoo Finance. As of 2025, Haemanthus had reportedly raised $20 million, according to The Guardian. It has not yet released a product.
What does Billy Evans think of 'You Can See Everything'?
Appearing as a guest on the All-In podcast last month, Evans said the idea behind doing the documentary was to counter the narrative about Holmes that had solidified over the past decade and "to have people see who she is."
Asked if he thinks the movie achieved that goal, Evans said, "I haven't seen it yet. I mean, I might think this is the dumbest thing I've ever done."
