It’s audio visual excrement.

i disagree, I think it was well paced, I think the framing device works - _well!_ - the characters were intriguing, the rundown of her crimes was interesting... I thought the miniseries was a good medium, it didn't NEED to be more concise, i was engaged from the beginning to the end! hopefully this review doesn't deter anyone from seeing it, neither of us are objectively right or wrong, obviously... some ppl think Better Call Saul is 'boring', and The Expanse is 'overly political', but those are my favorite shows of all time!

I couldn’t watch past 5 min that’s how bad the acting was

I think you missed the story. It wasn't about a con. It was about a crazy little white girl eating off the fat of the land. In reality she probably slept with a few of the investors.

totally disagree

Agree. Such terrible directing. The reporter's acting is a joke.

I found her really unlikeable too. She really did seem to care more about a con artist than her own baby and husband. Oof.

She was so exhausting to watch...

I dropped out after ten minutes into the second episode. Such a difference from Ozark where this actress could really fly!

Agreed OTT the entire show. Dreadful actress.

They were portraying typical leftist “intellectual” journalists that always put criminals ahead of victims.

Agree. That journalist was one of the most annoying cliches I've ever seen about the profession. I have never seen anything with that actress before, but after this I sure wont in the future, cant bare her exaggerated facial expressions.

Yeah, the cheering at the end was weird. Real people, not just banks and faceless corporations, were hurt and she DID NOT CARE. She is a con artist not some wrongly convicted kid.

Isn’t it because Vivianne convinced Anna NOT to take the plea deal so she could interview her? So she wanted Anna to get less time so that not taking the plea deal was worth it for her. Otherwise she lost out on a 4-year sentence deal. I don’t know, it got confusing at the end

@@JoeBidenIsMyDaddy Vivianne appealed to Anna's narcissism. Anna wanted to be famous. That is why the end was weak. Anna got what she wanted and Vivianne got her story.

I don’t think anyone has ever gotten the answer to this. Anna seems to be all over the place. Still won’t tell any kind of truth.

I guess she is not completely over with this. Yes, got caught once. Twice if I am not mistaken (expired visa issues). After becoming famous and, weirdly, getting her own fandom, Anna knows she can exploit that character even more. Don't be surprised if she comes later with her own documentary or book...hosting a podcast or whatever. Why would she tell the whole story now? Maybe this is just the beginning.

anna has the most irritating accent i have ever heard.....it hurts my ears...what bad acting

@@lawlessfarming9878 the accent might sound bad but its not bad acting considering that's the accent of the real Anna which is a mix of russian because she grew up there and german since she moved there

@@tootiredtothinkofaname6262 No its not, just check any interview with the real Anna, its completely incorrect.....she sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger sometimes in the show 🤣

There are many who have a desire for a greater purpose (self defined) than changing diapers and some of them happen to be women. I loved her character and she represents reality. I notice you failed to mention the lawyer who did not go on vacation with his whiny wife. Was that relationship dysfunctional?

He’s a beta.

Totally agree. What she put Rachel through would be absolutely traumatic to experience and I would help get her ass arrested too.

Yeah, and the journalist that got conned by a child, somehow it's her editor's fault? This series portrays women as though they're children that can't be blamed for their own behavior. I thought the point was going to be how sexist it is to excuse women and blame everything on the men in their life, as though they have no independence or agency. That it's equally wrong for men to take responsibility for women's failures as it is to take credit for their successes. But no, apparently women are just children that need to be coddled and micromanaged or else they'll run into the street and get themselves hurt. God, i miss 70's feminism. They saw themselves as equals, not victims.

@@onequickthing8950 lol okay bye

While I have no idea what actually went on with the real life Rachel, in the show she is portrayed as an opportunist, somebody quick to spend Anna's cash. When time came to pay back some of that, forced by circumstances, she agreed but reluctantly so and probably only because she was scared and expected Anna to pay back in full. She was happy to enjoy her holiday when it was payed by someone else, but couldn't fathom helping Anna back because she was supposedly "rich". In that perspective it makes sense to me why everyone took Anna's side and not Rachel's. She was not a good friend at all, on the show of course.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was baffled by the whole Rachel thing. They never showed Anna giving any of those characters a reason to like her so much, other than throwing money at them-- in which case they're all just as hypocritical as the show portrayed Rachel to be. Anyone in that kind of debt and about to lose their job would have done the same thing to the person who put them in that position. And she was wrong for that? Neff was an opportunist who followed Anna around for her money and for her connections. Her loyalty after that made no sense.

there wasnt a single likable character in the series that was the whole point

@@demyoutubers you just hate successful women

@@michaelcady1337 : Yeah, that's it. She hates successful women. Good thing you cleared that up.

That’s because the real neffy actually stuck with her till the end. Even now on her Instagram they post together all the time.

@@ManInTheBigHat lmao

Man vs woman, Immigrant vs American

To be fair he wasn’t scamming rich people and was taking advantage of the relationships

he never faced any legal retribution for his crimes though

Anna is scamming banks and the elite 1% Tinder swindler was scamming romantic relationships and scamming ordinary people or only a little well off but far from the wealthy 1%

@@ningyosama4782 I didn’t even watch the show but I know enough to know that she scammed plenty of ordinary people like the girl she went to Marrakesh with

Right? That was the best they could do with their source material. Also her friends seem to be pretty accurate.

yup, people really be thinking she's some kind of robin hood "queen" but no if you watch her interview she's a horrible person

Yes and some of these commenters CRITIC included seem to think the story should have been altered to a "happily ever after" for this felonious thug a come to Jesus moment as they say. Truth is she is a evil being and seemingly always will be.

Huh? I never once thought the series portrayed Anna as a good person. The story was trying to convey the way that Anna tricked people into thinking she was a good friend. I agree that the writing wasn't great but I don't think you understand what the narrative was trying to accomplish. Anna came across as an unsympathetic sociopath. And her friends came across as social climbing idiots.

I totally agree with you, the worst thing about the series is the writing and the one who played Vivian, (the journalist.) At the end all of them are cheering for Anna, a thief and a person emphatic to no one. It glorified everything that is wrong with society today. Poor writing.

@@acetate909 its not that i don't understand, it was "my interpretation", you have different take on it than i do.

@@suzygirl1843 but she did con the Rachel character and put her 60,000 dollar is credit card debt on her personal AND work credit card. She strung her along for months and risked her job and freedom. Rachel was no rich person who deserves being conned like that.

Yes!!

I know exactly what you mean. Netflix is H&M cheap and cheerful content being churned out enough to mildly satisfy the masses who just want to be entertained or distracted. HBO is like Chanel good quality and the make you wait a whole season for new stuff.

I agree. It’s like Netflix spends all its budget in the first half of their productions and then they run out of money or time at the end and have to rush to finish it

yes omg!!!

In this show specifically the mix of pop media and supposed high class-ness just made everything feel cheap. I don't think old money when I hear Doja Cat play over someone going to jail. The acting in this on Vivian's part felt very 2000s.

Woke Netflix IS ALL BAD!!

Not certain whether he was just written better or just performed better. Definitely the least annoying character

That's the homie Stewy.

LOL, nailed it. Couldn’t agree more. It was as much about Shonda’s hate for Trump as anything else.

Too bad nobody cares what we think..

The lawyer and the Chlumsky character.

@@testicool013 What a weird take, but thanks for letting everyone know you're terrible.

Lol..exactly my thoughts

@@testicool013 I'm guessing you are hinting at the fact that there seems to be a hidden narrative about her being an immigrant and not being accepted? Although I would never call that 'woke bullshit' and I think these topics deserve a story o ntheir own, I feel that if that was the message the series wanted to bring it needed more body in the story and her background and childhood needed to have a bigger part in the series for us the feel for her and understand her pain.

I belive she was ambitous enough so that peop[le around her with the time saw the future in how they could make their life better, and then realised it was a good thing and started supporting her idea and like her for a mutual interest. You saw how Nef was inspired by Anna to finally leave a job and pursue carrier. I think who were around her close enough changed their lives in positive way even though they struggled to deal with.

@@testicool013 Found the trump lap dog!

The real Anna found Rikers interesting. She is a student of character after all.

Then read about her, don't depend on a show that has no reason to give facts.

I agree, I would’ve loved to see it from Anna’s perspective more. But I think the choice to go in the other direction might have had to do with the fact that no one has ever gotten the real story about Anna. It’s tough to do a biopic from someone’s perspective who is a pathological liar. Like literally the years she was in Germany are unaccounted for because her parents aren’t speaking and either no one really knew her during that time or if they did, they too aren’t speaking up. So then she just appears in New York, but again…no one knows the real story except for the scams, which from Anna’s perspective weren’t scams at all. So yeah, it’s tricky…I know what you mean though. Basically if they had made Anna the main protagonist they would have had to go even harder on that disclaimer about the story being made up. Lol

@@re6bo Or, better yet, tell the story from Rachel's perspective. That's a story I want to see: a story of friendship and betrayal. I know HBO bought the rights to her story, but for some reason dropped the project. Probably because Netflix was already doing an Anna Delvey series and they thought it would be redundant to have two series about her.

There are very good movies that have journalists as protagonists, see The Post or All The President's Men

@@LuisSierra42 Oh yeah, totally! Just not Inventing Anna. Or at least the first episode. Maybe Viv gets less annoying as the show progresses.

And doesn't even check Anna's instagram till the hotel staff suggests. I mean what And that ultra sound scene at the end of first episode.. I couldn't even finish watching it. She started yelling fuck fuck and over acting. The facial expressions are exhausting.

You are not dumb, on the contrary, I felt the same, trying to understand what I missed.. It's nonsense that's all 😅😉

@@LotusOuest happy to hear we're on the same non-bumb team! 🤣🙌🏼

No, you weren’t dumb for missing why they were cheering. It is something I think the show struggled to make clear and the only reason I think I understood it was because I’ve watched wayyyy too many interviews and profile pieces about this story. Lol. Basically, Anna has a personality that comes off as rude and abrasive but she’s somehow able to get people to care about her, even root for her. The real-life journalist who interviews Anna for her story said that though she knew Anna was a conwoman, she was very likeable and after meeting her multiple people said the same thing…which is fascinating considering how in the same breath people call her rude. But either way, I think the show was trying to convey that Anna, her crimes, and her story is complicated emotionally for those who knew her (and didn’t get scammed by her that is) because on one hand they knew she was a conwoman but at that time Anna still came off as a young, naive, 20-something who was in over her head and made a mistake. Her interviews and comments since that have made it clear now though that she’s a scammer and social climber. Period.

The most nonsensical show. I seen praise for this show but after watching 4 episodes I put more thought into the person that actually thought the show was interesting.

From what I get- people don’t like Anna, they just like that she’s able to scam rich people

I agree with this except for all the strange sympathy they were throwing Anna at the end as if she were the hero.

Your perspective is refreshing

Don’t forget. She’s a motivational life coach too! 😂

I definitely agree here. I'm not one of those women who believe motherhood is everything. I understood that she wanted / needed to save her career. What I couldn't understand was putting her child's birth in so much danger by heaping all the angst in to finishing the article before she arrived?! If, as @think story suggested, the show better focused on how the reputational damage was to negatively impact the child, it might have 'helped' explain why was willing to risk its birth. Maybe that's why the journalist and lawyer were so focused on going above and beyond to prove Anna was a victim too; because they'd both made a choice to put the positive impact she'd have on their careers above everything and everyone else...xxx

i have not read ANYTHING rachel has done and I still sympathized with her way more

how's the book btw?

@@hycynth82828 Heartbreaking. The ordeal Rachel went through was just awful.

Exactly. For me too.

The problem is no one's really knows to this day. The show ended with the same questions that are still out there.

@@labellafleur6262 yes I totally understand but it's a show they could have imagined something with her , a lil story to dissipate all the mystery around the character at least

@@Prismaudee I disagree. Too many stories on psychopaths wrongly add personalty traits, characteristics or pedagogic explanations that simply do not exist in these cases. Reducing what makes them extraordinary. Most crimes are crimes of passion or include criminals with personal conflicts, development of character etc. Psychopaths typically don't become psychopaths for understandable reasons, there may be contributing factors but the problem is there from the start. Sortof like you don't become autistic at 15 because of a troubled background. If you want to be true to a real life story it's important to not provide sympathetic excuses where it doesn't belong (for both victims and perps). Plenty of fiction gives any opportunity for unrealistic nonsense. The fact is what's real in these cases is "unbelievable" which is why psychopaths get away with so much before being revealed.

She didn't MAKE you do anything. Take responsibility for your choices. Is this Anna?

@@reneejones2627 ummm child anyways so…🙄😒

hahaha no seriously. i thought this show was going to have wanting more when in reality, i only finished it because i wanted to see how it ended.

Well we know he makes sculptures, he talks to Vivian about it and then later talks to Todd and his wife at dinner when they first meet. But yes, Vivian was definetly all about her... main character syndrome

@Emmanuella Anyim I thought his name was beta.

I felt the same way about the actress that played Vivian! Overacted, weird faces and kinda mean.

I totally agree 💯..

ik, vivian is supposed to be a "feminist" kind of character but ended up over the top and unlikeable. she's so mean all the time and i hate hate hate that shows like this portray feminism as women always being rude and bitching about everything. portraying anna as a feminist also makes feminism look like a joke

I actually scrolled through her - vivian’s - parts a lot xD

Totally agree. The actress who played Vivian was horrible. She made the character look comical in several scenes when in actual it was supposed to be a serious one. It makes me angry as a viewer when you've decided to invest your time in watching a series and the actors are so disappointing.

They did try to show Anna as a robinhood character, but why would they is the real question. Anna can give two shits about anyone else, especially “poor people”. Everything she does or ever did was self serving. The real Anna still believes she’s a part of New York’s high society, looks down on regular people, and by every definition is an elitist. I would understand rooting for her if she did scam the rich with the intention to better the lives of those who need it, but that’s absolutely not the case

It’s not at all uncommon for women to develope mental illnesses due to pregnancy, hormones, bodily changes, life changes, etc.. so if they’d delved into maybe she was depressed due to her pregnancy and focusing on Anna was her coping mechanism instead of her just being negligent it would’ve gone better I think. Tho it’d be EVEN better if it wasn’t a part of the story

You literally voiced how I feel about this show perfectly. Add like one hundred more “what the FUCKs” and you nailed it. What a godawful show

The whole point of the story is that the boogeyman doesn't always look like the boogeyman we imagine and that's how people get scammed. If Anna was a totally one dimensional raging maniac, nobody would have been fooled. But sociopaths like Anna know how to twist the knife just so. You don't really feel it until you look down and there is blood everywhere. I'm not surprised she got people to root for and be on her side. Think about recent history and see if you don't see that same thing.

She looked like Melissa Gilbert!

Very much so

That’s where The season starts lol the first few episodes are extremely slow but after that it’s amazing

Agree w all of this.

Spot on!

But most of the people she conned weren't her friends; they were business associates and networks.

I enjoyed it as well. No trailer for me either.

Same here. I somehow liked that this wasn't scripted to make anyone out to be very attractive. I found aspects of relatability here and there in various characters (a couple more than others of course) as the interactions between them unfolded, but to me the entire script reflects the very premise proposed of why this young woman was able to get so far with her scam, ie that the climate in NYC today is all about ambition, the hustle; that fake it till you make it works better than authenticity (because you can't even trust your coworkers not to throw you under the buss if shit hits the fan and jobs are at stake). The premise is this could ONLY ever happen in a city where the wall street tycoon is revered (a fish tank of psychopathic culture covered in many wall street themed films), and only ever trumped by royalty or "old money" (as this con artist also understood) simply bc that's the one thing you cannot generate with your own ambition and hard work, Unless like Anna you lie about it. Nobody in the story (except perhsps the coworkers in Scriberion) is an altruist, doing anything for nothing in return. On the contrary, everyone has one angle or another on everyone else they deal with in the story, to further their personal interests, goals, ambitions, etc. Alot of films and especially series about sociopaths/psychopaths are engaging exactly due to flaws scripted to make the criminal more charming or believable through general relatability or psychological explanations that are quite atypycal for psychopaths, ie false. Several of the here characters don't describe Anna as fun or even nice, she's described as being a mean bitch which several admit is attractive to them (and the trainer uses as a incentivising slogan too). Anna is often disrespectful of others "lesser" jobs, apparences etc asking why they dress like shit, waste their time on crap jobs etc, and somehow in this environment it doesn't repell everyone, but some feel challenged to raise their game, and the premise being NYC today is all about game, only the players got played by a girl who cared even less than they do because she had nothing to lose at all. And none of the why's are moving or emotionally engaging to anyone outside this game. She's guilty but she didn't get the loan. If she'd gotten it and the social club had been an immediate hit, it would be a different story. We all know that. It's like the stock market itself. Perceived value, perceived potential is everything. So everyone pitches and projects. I expected to see Anna be queen bitch with more panache maybe. Thrillingly so. She wasn't. The strangest bit about this story was how anyone didn't notice how super- cliché-Russian she is. Like text book Russian golddigger even without psychopathic tendencies. She claimed to be German and by no means did she have a German accent nor behave at all like a continental person with a reasonably decent background. All the fixation with labels and treating service persons like trash, this is typical of a specific type of latter day Russian culture, thanks to the likes of Putin and organised crime. She'd have never been believed to be anything but Russian in Europe as she was portrayed in this series. Why would Americans not see and hear something so obvious? German accents are audible and unmistakable. Perhsps one of the books explain this...

Yeah I genuinely loved it, I felt like the unsympathetic portrayal of the characters was kind of part of the charm if that makes sense? Like Anna is terrible, her friends are terrible. And I LIKED watching Anna scam these awful people, honestly. But Vivian isn't awful, I will say that. I don't think the show hid her past, either, it hung over her the whole time. And her relationships with the other residents of "Scriberia" in contrast with Anna's predatory friendships was great! I loved them. They made a wonderful anchor in the show. The most important part at the end when Anna showed vulnerability at last and hopefully asked Vivian to visit her isn't mentioned in this video, but it really touched me. Anna doesn't change because narcissists don't, but Vivian did. She recovered her career and realized how important being a mother was to her by the end. I dunno I just really loved this.

About 70% of "based on true story" movies are less interesting than what actually happened.

Exactly. The story is about the journalist and telling the full story... not Rachel's one sided version. I wanted all this content of Anna's friendships and relationships. I like it and thought it was done well. Tons of detail the public wanted.

Based on a true story doesn't make it a fact. There's a lot of bullshit in the show that doesn't line up if you read about it. But as long as you are entertained right?

Exactly, that's the whole point - she has no remorse. I think that's almost more impactful than showing her character development. Sometimes people just don't change.

@@kevinmcgarvey8090 I guess, it’s not a documentary but it’s also not fiction, right?