“Inventing Anna” has been on Netflix’s “Top Ten”  for weeks, also rising to the number one spot of The Nielsen’s  “Top Ten Streaming” this show has brought new people into the world of true crime documentaries. This show had some great potential but failed to meet the standards it set for itself. 

 The story follows the over the top and fraudulent life of Anna Sorokin, also known by her alias “Anna Delvey.”  The show is written through the perspective of a journalist by the name of Vivian Kent, who has taken interest in Anna’s case. As Vivian is trying to find out the real truth behind this mystery woman she gets different  stories from everyone close to Anna and even Anna herself. 

The only consistency she gains from the countless interviews is that Anna was from Germany and had inherited a large sum of money before moving to New York. Along with the fact that she tried to pass herself as a fashion expert and designer. By the end of the series Vivian finds herself questioning her involvement with Anna and if she was just a pawn in Anna’s games. 

The true story behind the show is very similar, of course other than the fact that the show is from a journalist’s perspective. Many of the facts throughout the show are exactly or very close to the real case. For example Vivian Kent is not a real person though she is based on a real journalist Jessica Pressler who did write real articles about Anna. 

Although the show does a good job of portraying the facts of the case it lacks in some other departments. Some of the acting throughout the show just seemed stale and didn’t sound natural. Now that could just be bad writing, but it was clear which actors were better for the roles compared to others. Because of this it was hard at times to get through these hour long episodes since it almost felt like they just filmed people reading their scripts. Even with this some of the actors did wonderful jobs and brought some of the characters to life, but it was hard to appreciate those actors since they were surrounded with lower quality actors. Now there is respect for all of the actors. It’s just this show was just not it for some of them. They are properly great actors but these roles just didn’t fit them. For example Anna Chlumsky as Vivian Kent, though she plays  the main character, she seemed dull and her lines felt forced. 

Another thing is the cinematography and the filter. It fit the tone of the show well but this style of like dark/gray tones has become somewhat over used in movies and tv. The show is meant to be documentary so more natural light would have made it much more believable, and would have brought more depth to the world. In all the scenes where they’re walking through New York City they almost blend into the buildings and have a hard time standing out. 

Overall, this was a decent watch. It’s a good show to binge when bored. It has a lot of good and true information, the creators did a great job with their research on the case and executed it decently. As with most shows and movies there is much to be fixed, but it’s still entertaining and enjoyable to watch.