Inventing Anna - Netflix

bnt · 12-02-2022 9:56am #1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65xa8TG2G8o

I watched the first episode of this and enjoyed it quite a bit so far. It's mostly setup surrounding the trial of Anna Delvey (a.k.a. Anna Sorokin) (Julia Garner - The Americans, Ozark)and the magazine journalist (Anna Chlumsky - Veep) fighting to investigate the story.

There's a quote in the trailer that isn't given in full: "she is everything that's wrong with America right now ... and she's not even American". This is important because Anna's "exotic" accent helps to fool the cream of New York society in to thinking that she's an important European. To we Europeans, that accent should have its own IMDB page, since it's practically a character in its own right. Then you hear the words she uses, and the effect is the vocal equivalent of a car heading towards a cliff. It's going to end badly.

flazio · 12-02-2022 12:25pm

Anna Chlumsky? As in the titular "My Girl" from the 90s movie?

bnt · 12-02-2022 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118620085#Comment_118620085

Yep. If you haven't seen her in Veep, you're in for an eye-and-ear-opener. Or watch this.

Pentecost · 13-02-2022 12:38pm

Watched the first two episodes of this. It's pretty good and Julia Garner has such a great screen presence, you're just drawn to her. I'm not sure what is going on with her accent but that's more than likely the idea. It's hard to believe she got away with for so long in the internet age.

colmpigeon · 13-02-2022 2:00pm

At this point I've watched the full series, and thought it was fairly problematic.

While there was good momentum in the first few episodes, this dissipated as the show went on, the final few episodes felt a bit of slog to get through. The show seems to want us to have sympathy for Anna Delvey, but never gives us a real reason to.

Also thought there was a lot of victim blaming going on.

bertiebomber · 15-02-2022 11:34am

A film would have been enough it was stretched to make a series a bit boring.

Pentecost · 15-02-2022 11:40am

I've watched as far as the end of episode 6 now and I'm definitely in agreement that this is too long. So far at least, we're not given any real insight on why she did what she did which would be more interesting once the initial "what" has been established. Agree also that they're trying to lessen the sympathy for those she defrauded and there's no valid reason why.

Penn · 15-02-2022 12:29pm

Watched first two episodes last night. Jesus her accent is hilarious. Have no idea how it compares to the real thing, but christ almighty.... Plus the scene where she breaks down in the hotel and is crying on the fashion designer's shoulder, she just repeated the same line, with the same pauses and stutters, numerous times. It felt incredibly robotic, and I'm not sure if it was badly edited/acted or if it was meant to show she (the character) was just acting upset.

The writing is also a bit all over the place. Convincing the rich guy to invest in Chase's dream thing was laughable. The older journalists joking with each other about Instagram is so f*cking forced and dumb. Plus the second episode we see the hotel worker who was friends with Anna try to rally their other friends to visit her, then work up the courage to visit her herself, get on the bus, go through security, sit in the waiting room, get called to go in... and then it cuts to Vivian visiting her. Why the fakeout? It served no purpose.

Have there been any documentaries done on this story? Feels like it would have been a much better avenue to go down.

cml387 · 15-02-2022 2:51pm

Watched the first episode, won't be going back.

If you want to hear the unembellished story listen to the BBC podcast "The Fake Heiress".

DavyD_83 · 18-02-2022 10:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118634753#Comment_118634753

Thanks, I'm only 2 episodes in and not really loving it, but an curious about the story so will give the podcast a go.

Halfway through the podcast now, whatever else I might say about it, it's certainly not 'unembellished'. There is very little real audio, and a lot of dramatised conversations. including those with her parents who they actually state there is little or no information about and certainly no knowledge of their interactions.

From what I have seen and heard so far, and the bits of reviews, it feels like the real issue is that nobody understands Anna's motivations or has a full account of what she did or how, so have created a narrative, but without much conviction to it.

Penn · 18-02-2022 10:38am

Finished last night. Was a struggle to get through by the end. The show ends up emulating exactly what Vivian felt was wrong with society regarding how Anna was able to do what she did. The show never focuses on the how or why, but is instead just so focused on the style and flash as a distraction. It never really tries to scratch the surface of anything.

They completely wasted their chance to do something interesting with the story or characters at the expense of cheap trickery and clearly just making a lot of stuff up (like the bank manager and his wife....).

Pentecost · 22-02-2022 12:47pm

Finished it last night. Despite their best efforts to get you to feel sympathy for her she just came across as a nasty piece of work and by all accounts she's worse in real life. No interest in what happens to her hopefully she gets deported and we don't have to hear about her again but these people always manage to survive.

Dymo · 22-02-2022 1:05pm

Finished it last night also, I enjoyed it up until the last episode, what happened to the main characters.

She was as guilty as sin didn't care about anyone, ripped off a friend who couldn't afford it and didn't care about the consequences, Todd and Vivian acted like they locked up an innocent person and it was the mistrial of the century she should of gotten away with the blatant stealing and scams.

Rachel's friends just turned on her, excuse me she was down $60,000 and in fear of losing her job, ok she might of been a bit vacuous but she was right to sell her story to get the money back and make some more. I think the friends where just jealous.

Anna came across as a horrible person but how all the majority of characters bowed down to her at the end kind of ruined the show for me.

cena · 22-02-2022 1:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118672465#Comment_118672465

It tells you at the end what happened to the real people

Pentecost · 22-02-2022 1:37pm

All the guff about her just trying to build her foundation and coming so close was ridiculous. As if it was some kind of noble charity rather than just a massive vanity project.

hawaii501 · 26-02-2022 1:14pm

The journalist is the most annoying, she thinks she's an FBI agent questioning everyone.

I would have told her to f#ck off.

JP Liz V1 · 27-02-2022 12:44am

I liked the fashion, agree too long a series

Underground · 21-03-2022 11:51pm

I'm on episode 7 of this and starting to struggle big time. As others have said, this show is fixated on the "what" Anna did, when really it needs more focus on the "why".

Julia Garner is a phenomenal actor and carries it and is the only reason I've stuck with it as long as I have.

The plot just meanders from one Instagram moment to the next, it's almost like a reality TV show in those aspects.There are very, very few likeable characters in this show, and perhaps that's the point. Obviously Anna is a nasty piece of work but I even find Neff particularly unpleasant with little to no redeemable qualities.

At the point I'm at, Neff has somehow navigated through the lobby and I assume security of the New York Magazine building and is sitting with Vivian and her colleagues in the office whilst she writes her article? This just seems like nonsense to me.

quidel7 · 21-03-2022 11:55pm

It’s a hard one to see through to the end. Too long certainly and if it was condensed into a shorter series it would have been better.

Inventing Anna - Netflix

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