Netflix’s Inventing Anna Review

‘Inventing Anna’ is the latest mini-drama series with nine episodes available to stream on Netflix; it has been created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, and inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin and the New York article titled “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler. The series was released on the 11^th of February 2022 and stars Julia Garner as the title character, Anna Sorokin.

In June 2018, Netflix and Shondaland acquired the rights to the life story of Anna Sorokin and the New York article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler, with plans to turn this real-life story into a television series. As a result, Anna Sorokin received $320,000 that was used to pay restitution and legal fees. In October 2019, Julia Garner, Anna Chlumsky, Katie Lowes, Laverne Cox, and Alexis Floyd joined the cast of the series; this is also when filming began in New York and Los Angeles. In November 2019, Arian Moayed, Anders Holm, Anna Deavere Smith, Jeff Perry and Terry Kinney joined the cast of the series; in February 2020, Jennifer Esposito also joined the cast.

The Netflix series premiered on the 11^th of February and is currently (as of today on the 18^th of February) at the number one spot in the UK. There are many mixed reviews and feelings online in response to the popular series, specifically because it is based on true events on the case of Anna Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin.

It is unbelievable, yet true, that Anna Sorokin managed to go on an unpaid private jet trip, stay in lavish hotels without paying, fake statements to secure loans, and even cheat her friends into buying her first-class flights. Some people who are enjoying the series, surprisingly, “root” for her as well, which makes the other spectrum of people question, such as myself, why a con artist is being admired.

As ‘entertaining’ as some of these series are, such as ‘Inventing Anna’ and also ‘The Tinder Swindler’, there is a limit to how fiction can be mixed to the truth, as that makes it more dangerous than complete fiction or complete truth. This TV series, displays certain aspects of Anna Sorokin’s real life, that are completely true, but there are parts that are exaggerated for ‘drama effect’, which is what blurs the line and ends up making a portion of the audience feel differently about the character on-screen versus how they may feel about the real person.

The main characters in the Netflix series are as follows:

Anna Chlumsky as Vivian Kent

Julia Garner as Anna Delvey

Arian Moayed as Todd Spodek

Katie Lowes as Rachel Williams

Alexis Floyd as Neff Davis

Anders Holm as Jack

Anna Deavere Smith as Maud

Jeff Perry as Lou

Terry Kinney as Barry

Laverne Cox as Kacy Duke

Watch the Netflix trailer if you are interested in watching the series:

To watch ‘Inventing Anna’, click HERE to go to Netflix and start!