Inventing Anna Review – A Brilliantly Told True-Crime Miniseries

A dramatisation of the real-life story of fake German heiress Anna Delvey

Who does not like to hear stories of con artists and grifters? Things become even more exciting when the grifts are huge and eventually collapse. Inventing Anna on Netflix is a must-watch if that’s your taste.

Anna Sorokin, otherwise known as Anna Delvey, rose in the high society of New York as a fake German heiress. A quick wit along with a nice wardrobe was all that it took Anna Delvey to pull off her grits. Using her fake persona, she scammed the elite for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It was difficult for people to imagine that Anna Delvey was not who she claimed to be since she always knew which wine must be ordered. Someone with such exquisite tastes must be legit, as they thought. Anna Sorokin eventually got charged with several counts of crimes. Eventually, in 2019, she was found guilty for 8 charges. Nevertheless, she still had quite a nice ride, and her exact life story is portrayed in this new Netflix dramatization.

Inventing Anna is a production of Shondaland, a company owned by Shonda Rhimes. It is a tale that is told brilliantly with some modern twists. And without a doubt, it is quite fun. This is a show that everyone who wants to marvel on her wits must watch. With steel nerves, the 20 something Anna pulls off deep webs.

Though, this is not the first time Anna Delvey has been documented in popular media. However, most of the takes have lacked an in-depth analysis of why she chose to live this way. With that, her motivations and pathology are largely unknown. Those who want such a detailed analysis will apparently have to wait much more.

In the very start of Inventing Anna, we meet the brutal and ice-cold antiheroine with the words, “This whole story that you’re about to sit on your fat ass and watch, like a big lump of nothing, is about me. You know me. Everyone knows me. I’m an icon. A legend.”

And, of course, that is enough to compel anyone into following the story of this woman with an ego barely containable. Right from the very beginning, Inventing Anna hooks you right in, and you are left wondering where she will end up.

The role of Anna in Inventing Anna is played by Julia Garner. And of course, given that someone of her fine talents is playing this role, you will not lose any emotional investment or interest in her. It stays intact even when she goes from one stage of grifts to another, quickly pulling off her cons. While this would be outrageous for many people, for Anna Delvey, it seems like this is the only way of living.

It looks like if Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna did not get to live a single day of luxury, she would cease to exist just like a fish that is taken out of water.

Julia Garner’s role of Anna Delvey looks like a mix of defensiveness and fury when she is challenged. But that is also coupled with sweetness when needed, sharp intelligence, and great charm. It is very difficult to take your eyes off her, though.

But of course, her cons did not age that well. Small giveaways leading to doubts, followed by better and bigger frauds, and some grievances from betrayed friends eventually led to her downfall, as shown in Inventing Anna. Throughout Inventing Anna, we keep seeing scenes of Kent interviewing Anna in prison. The investigation reveals how Anna went from Moscow to living a big dream that eventually ended.

Though, Williams, a journalist who wrote about a bad holiday that she went to with Anna Sorokin in 2017, has other things to say. She was among those that Sorokin scammed after charging her around $62000 during the Morocco trip but only reimbursing $5000.

The journalist is portrayed by Katie Lowes in the show and appears in the sixth episode of Inventing Anna. According to Williams, she “was not involved with the show”.

Williams also stated that she was expecting “there would be times when the dramatisation of my experience would make me uncomfortable.” However, she did not want to step into the spotlight. But now that Inventing Anna is here, she states that her portrayal in the show and the overall “Netflix description felt shocking”.

Netflix describes Inventing Anna:

“In Inventing Anna, a journalist with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York’s social scene – and stole their money as well. But is Anna New York’s biggest con woman or is she simply the new portrait of the American dream? Anna and the reporter form a dark, funny love-hate bond as Anna awaits trial and our reporter fights the clock to answer the biggest question in NYC: who is Anna Delvey?”