SOCIALITE scammer Anna Delvey is a genius, to say the least. Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, took New York City by storm between 2013 and 2017 by successfully posing as a wealthy German heiress.
In fact, her brilliant attention to detail and remarkable social skills made her the life of the party among New York’s exclusive elites. But what ultimately made her a star was her ability to con some of the biggest financial institutions, banks, hotels, and acquaintances in the city for over US$275,000 (RM1.15 million).
Although Sorokin was ultimately arrested and jailed, many have taken an interest in her story, especially after an expose article was written about her. And fortunately for us, Netflix has decided to take on her scandalous antics in its latest series, Inventing Anna.
Created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, Inventing Anna follows the journey of Sorokin becoming ‘Anna Delvey’ through the lens of reporter Vivian Kent. To revive her career as a journalist, Kent decides to investigate Delvey and her cultivated reputation of being a rich German heiress.
As she interviews acquaintances, friends and a past lover, Kent soon learns of Delvey’s crimes. But things go south when she loses her sanity trying to understand and discover the real person under the well-packaged individual that is Anna Delvey.
Understanding the con artist
For the most part, Inventing Anna was a contemporary masterpiece. Rhimes did her career a favour when she made the move of capitalising on Sorokin’s thrilling story. Not only was the series exciting for viewers, but it seems to also resonate well.
And the ratings do not lie. In just one week, the series quickly became the most-watched English-language show on Netflix.
The show gained over 196 million hours of viewing time, excluding the 77 million hours it got from Feb 11 to 14.
The success can be attributed to a few factors. The first one is the show’s expertise in giving viewers a peek into Sorokin’s mindset.
By watching the series, one would understand how Sorokin thinks. For instance, her priorities, her tactics and her way of navigating life.
It was interesting indeed to follow and listen about her different personas from the people she has encountered. And considering how we are in the age of social media, the mystery that she brought was refreshing and stimulating.
Introduction to Business and Journalism 101
Aside from Sorokin’s mindset, the movie also provided a good 101 introduction to the workings of the business and journalism industry. From the get-go, we are shown how Sorokin navigates her deals with business partners to realise her dream of setting up her art centre, The Anna Delvey Foundation.
While it was clear that she did not have any assets or money, I personally found these scenes educational.
In fact, there was quite a lot of information related to finance and banking that I learned from watching these scenes.
As for the journalism side, the portrayal of reporter Vivian Kent and the industry was somewhat realistic. Most times, the journalism industry is depicted from a romantic point of view, where only the perks are highlighted.
And Inventing Anna avoids this mistake by depicting a well-balanced picture of the industry, showing its benefits and downfalls. It even shows how cruel the industry can be when a writer is no longer wanted and how difficult it can be to get a compelling story.
Main highlight
But of course, the story owes it to its lead actress for the majority of its success. Julia Garner who played Anna Delvey flawlessly breathed new life into the character. Her performance as the con artist will definitely go down as one of the highlights of her acting career.
Take, for example, Garner’s part German, part Russian, and part American accent in the show is a far cry from her characters’ accents in Ozark and Dirty John. You also do not see other characters in her when she is playing Delvey.
This, therefore, demonstrates the range and depth Garner has as an actress. And I personally cannot wait to see and follow her career from here on.
Failed attempt for sympathy
While I did emphasise how Inventing Anna is a modern gem, the drama reaches its downfall when it attempts to gain viewers’ sympathy for Delvey. An illustration of this is when the creators frame Delvey’s crimes as a consequence of a troubled childhood and mental illness.
This is because, in reality, Delvey had a pretty privileged life. Yes, although she did not live the life she wanted, she still had a life many could only dream of having.
In fact, I would suggest viewers read more about her and watch interviews of Delvey after finishing the series for a better picture.
Once you do, you will see that Delvey has shown no repentance for her wrongdoings. She even prides herself for successfully committing these offences. So, if anything, the show only proved that Delvey was nothing more than a brilliant privileged con artist.
