Shonda Rhimes’ latest series and Netflix debut Inventing Anna has taken the world by storm. While Julia Garner was outstanding in her portrayal of the New York con artist Anna Sorokin, it is easy to be left wondering if the series as a whole was a little too over embellished.
The 2022 Netflix Original series tells the true story of Anna Sorokin, better known by her fake name Anna Delvey. Anna claimed to be a German heiress and after her trial in 2019, she was given a sentence of four to 12 years. Despite this, she only served three years of this and was released on good behaviour.
However from what we know about Anna, her behaviour is often far from good. She earned her time in prison because of her tendency to not pay the bill for six figure hotel stays, and a jaunt in a stolen private jet. She borrowed huge amounts of money from friends and never paid them back, lying about her own wealth.
The series follows two main storylines in different timeframes. The first is of journalist Vivian Kent (Anna Chulmsky), who is working on a story for Manhattan Magazineabout Delvey’s trial, making frequent visits to her in prison and squeezing information out of her closest friends. Oh, and she’s very heavily pregnant, which puts even more pressure on her looming deadline. Chulmsky did a great job of playing the burnt out over achieving journalist, but the series could have done with less of the baby and husband story. So much time isspent dissecting Vivian’s life, which is frustrating when all audiences want to know is what is going on with Anna. There are nine episodes in this series, but the story could have been summed up in about six if all of the Vivian story padding was removed.
Saying this, I did find myself gripped by the series, thanks to the second, more interesting storyline. We see glimpses of Anna’s old glamorous and deceptive life as she brushes shoulders with Manhattan’s elite through flashbacks. Her life seems utterly fascinating and thrilling, as she attempts to get a $25 million loan to create an arts club which is as exclusive as her. Anna is a masterful actress who twists everybody around her little finger. It does make you think, how gullible are these rich people? She constantly relies on the excuse that her money is tied up in a trust fund or that her dad just simply hasn’t wired the money over yet. And she does get away with it for a while because the people around her are so utterly convinced and besotted by this ‘heiress’ that they believe her.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed the deep dive into Anna Delvey and her story. Garner continues to impress and I can’t wait to see more of her on my screen. Her imitation of Anna’s accent was amusing and jokes about it have even made it onto TikTok. I have a suspicion that she will continue to land big time roles like this for Netflix in the future. I just wish the series had only focused on only her, and on Anna’s story.