Lance Oppenheim, 30, has two films competing for awards attention this season, a feat the Guardian describes as "sorcery" for a single filmmaker.
You Can See Everything, a three-hour documentary co-directed by Oppenheim and Nathan Fielding, follows disgraced health-tech executive Elizabeth Holmes during a month before she begins an 11-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy. The Guardian describes the film as "head-spinning" and notes it is so secretive that Variety's Oscar predictions list identifies one cast member only as "[Redacted]". The film is expected to become the first documentary nominated for best picture.
Oppenheim's other awards contender is Primetime, a drama starring Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, the television vigilante famous for the To Catch a Predator segment that aired on Dateline NBC between 2004 and 2007. In the segment, Hansen ambushed people suspected of targeting minors. The Guardian notes that Pattinson is attracting Oscar buzz for his "high-wire performance" in the role. Hansen later created spin-offs based on the concept, including Hansen Vs Predators, which the source describes as having "the same sleazy catnip quality" as To Catch a Predator. Other spin-offs, such as a sting operation targeting bicycle thieves, did not maintain that appeal.
Oppenheim was born in Florida. Both films are described as "clammy, audacious awards contenders that challenge our sense of reality," according to the headline.