Con of the decade: Inventing Anna

Karachi: Shonda Rhimes, the producer of the infamous Greys anatomy, released her much-anticipated latest limited series, Inventing Anna, which quickly climbed up to the Netflix top 10 charts in many countries around the world including Pakistan, U.S. and Canada. Based around a Russian-German convicted con artist and fraudster desperately, the show tries to uncover who the real Anna Delvey is and where she comes from. Amongst the many narratives that the 9 episode long series paints, its most prominent themes include the corruption of individuality as a product of capitalism, and especially how puffering and flaunting wealth, or the promise of wealth that may or may not exist, can get you about anything and anywhere, or at least close enough. As long as you can flash a little style, fancy shoes and bags and a little knowledge on art history, or at least enough to potentially be able to open a swank, members-only art club, you could swim through the high waters of society.

Inventing Anna is loosely based on a real-life story first published in the New York Times magazine, followed by the trial of Anna Sorokin that had everyone following it to the very last detail when it was released in the spring of 2018. When news of a documentary adaptation of the case was announced, it had everyone rallying after it, anticipating its release.

Inventing Anna tells the most fascinating story of Sorokin, a then twenty-five year old Russian-German con artist under the name of Anna Delvey, who posed as a going to be wealthy German heiress, and thus was able to successfully trick her way into the New York high society social scene and their endless pockets. Investigating Anna’s story is a journalist, Vivian Kent (played by Anna Chlumsk), being a woman in a male-dominated industry and with a career on thin ice, pursues Anna’s story, believing it to be filled with various counts of theft and grand larceny that could finally be her career breaking case. Vivian’s character portrays the real-life journalist Jessica Pressler, the author of the original article for the New York Magazine and the woman who interviewed Sorokin while she was awaiting trial in prison at Rikers Island.

A huge part of the shows’ success has been the actors they have on board, with the perfect casting being Julia Garner as Anna Delvey. Garner acts as a true embodiment of Sorokin, absorbing into the character she is playing as she has done previously with her roles such as Ruth Langmore in Ozark – two characters you would have never guessed were played by the same person. Having mastered the unique Russian-German accent, coupled with her sass and ‘being smarter than everyone around her’ attitude, she never had anyone second-guessing if Garner was indeed the best choice for this role.

A perspective that the series is very interested in exploring is the contrast with how female protagonists are treated as opposed to how they would be if they were male. Highlighted most is how Anna had to change her appearance to be taken notice of by her lawyer. When her legal counsel, Reed, first met her, he did not take her seriously, it was only when she dyed her hair red and started wearing glasses is when he took any interest in her and her extensive plans. It is also questioned if Vivian Kent would have faced the repercussions that she had or if Anna would have received as harsh of a sentence if they had been male figures.

One hiccup in the writing of this show, however, would have to be how long the final episodes were dragged out as opposed to the article that it was based on. What Jessica Pressler’s article had that the TV show did not was a consistent pace. Closer to the end of the series, the episodes and hence story seem to drag out more than they might have needed to, losing the one thing that made Pressler’s article addicting and hard to miss, the thrill; The rush of not knowing what Anna felt at any step of her grand scheme. What the series also never answers is why Anna did anything that she did; what the actual intention behind any of her actions was still remains a mystery. It was heavily focused on Anna’s appearance, not only in real-life as an heiress but also her image on Instagram.

Inventing Anna constantly weaves in and out of what is fact versus what is fiction, with every episode reminding you “This whole story is completely true, except for the parts that are completely made up,” as we navigate through the lies and facts of Anna’s life making this a potential feast for true crime junkies.

Ozark, Inventing Anna,