Apple Cider Vinegar

What a line that encapsulates the human parasites that walk amongst us wearing a veneer of normality. A tale as old as time is that of the snake oil salesperson and its numerous iterations across history, culminating in the 21st century in individuals, such as Belle Gibson, Anna Delvey (Inventing Anna) and Christopher Duntsch (Dr Death), to name a few whose notoriety resulted in their own Netflix series.

Do people learn from such examples of sociopathic creatures and the havoc they wreak, or are we helpless against the sweet empty promises of the cunning and beguiling? The one common thing about snake oil salespeople is that they target people's weaknesses and manipulate these insecurities to their advantage. The defense against them is knowing ourselves better than they do, but not everyone has that level of self-awareness.

Unlike the other two series, it can be difficult to discern in Apple Cider Vinegar what is real and what is derived from imagination of the writers, who deftly filled in the blanks to create a cohesive story about Gibson, who she was, how she came to be, and the unfortunate consequences of her ambition. What is certain is that she feigned brain cancer to garner sympathy and attention, fraudulently promoted herself as a survivor through natural remedies, leading her to provide false hope to countless cancer sufferers, some of whom could have survived if it weren't for her lies.

The story crosses between three main couples - Belle and her codependent partner, Clive; Milla, a fictitious social media influencer/cancer warrior and her friend/business partner/whistle blower, Chanelle; and Lucy, another fictitious cancer patient who is swayed by the ideas of Milla and Belle, to the dismay of her journalist partner, Justin. Milla represents the misguided social media types who reject expert advice they don't agree with, and end up deceiving themselves and others in the attempt to minimise their cognitive dissonance. Lucy represents those that fall prey to types like Milla and Belle because they are facing abject despair and desperately clinging onto hope.

The series explores the origin of Belle's personality disorder as a combination of innate vulnerabilities and environmental factors, including her dismissive and self-serving mother, which probably isn't far from the truth. People aren't born with narcissistic and antisocial personality disorders, which Belle Gibson would most likely qualify for. Those like her often believe the lies they tell themselves to escape the excruciating shame they feel as a result of their upbringing and actions, and usually have no conscious awareness of their shame.

ACV is a thoughtful examination of desperation and hope, of opportunists and their unwitting prey, of broken children and their dysfunctional childhood, of anecdotal evidence vs scientific reasoning borne out of many years of arduous study and specialist training. Still it could have benefitted from sharper editing and storytelling; six episodes each spanning a full hour seemed overlong. But it does have a killer soundtrack.

Great set up, great acting, necessary story-it's good to see a portrayal of influencing that accurately captures how horrific it can be instead of glamorising it. I found the switching timeline a bit confusing but I do think that was intentional. The whole show was a good blend of not so serious and very serious which I feel like is very hard to do. I liked how one of the characters spoke to the camera/audience at the beginning of each episode, it was original and really humanised them!

I'm mainly writing this to express how amazed I am at Kaitlyn Dever's Australian accent. I hated (this TV version of) Belle so much and I feel like only exceptional actors can make you truly hate the characters they portray. As a bonus it was lovely to see some of the other actors be able to use their natural accents :)

Enthralling recap of a story many of us Aussies know well, but made none the less enticing, I was totally gripped from start to finish.

I'm Australian and didn't even realise the actress playing Belle was American!!

Even if you know the story, there's still plenty of detail and character building that really builds on the nuances of those involved.

Great acting, great cast, loved the direction and cinematography. Also really great depiction of the so-called wellness industry, the slow build of Instagram and influencer culture. Part of you wonders if it had been successful without the lies.

Really proud the Aussie TV industry did the story so well - I binged it in a day!!

I don't typically watch "based on a true story" Netflix series, However, I saw an interview of Kaitlyn Denver where she absolutely nailed the Australian accent (a rarity for American actors). I decided to give the show a chance, and I'm very happy I did.

Apple Cider Vinegar is really good. It's a show that perfectly captures contemporary life; the possibilities and pitfalls of the internet, healthfluencers, "alternative" medicine, and the gender wars. It explores how the internet is a perfect "place" to weaponize sociopathy, doubt, and aspiration. How well meaning people can be sucked into a world of snake oil and quack treatments it for perfectly understandable reasons, always empathizing with the people on screen.

I have to say, Kaitlyn Denver is FANTASTIC as notorious scammer Belle Gibson. Denver not only masters the Australian accent, but manages to capture a distinct "Australian Millennial" vibe. Without heavy makeup or unique costuming, she still manages to melt away into her role.

I've seen Alycia Debnam-Carey in other stuff, but aside from being a dead ringer for Hilary Duff, she's never really stood out to me as an actress. Until now, of course. Her performance in Apple Cider Vinegar is really great, and I found her character - Milla Blake - to be such a great foil to Belle. The entire cast is pretty phenomenal, but the two lead actresses really steal the show here.

I also have to commend this show for really UNDERSTANDING the internet and social media. I love how when people are depicted as being on Instagram Live or YouTube or Facebook, the content LOOKS the way it's supposed to. Even TV interviews are shot like actual TV interviews, perfect lighting and all. YouTube videos shown in the series LOOk like actual YouTube videos.

And the transitions feel so seamless and energetic; almost like how it feels flipping from app to app and responding to messages in between. It's a pretty well paced show, every episode feels fairly packed with stuff happening and while it does dip in quality a bit in the middle, it's never boring.

I will say, the show plays around with non-linear storytelling which is mostly effective (it would definitely be a lesser show if it were told entirely chronologically) but it can be a bit confusing at times.

Overall though, Apple Cider Vinegar really exceeded my expectations. It's a show with the energy and intrigue of an Inventing Anna with the quality performances and intensity of Adolescence.

Apple Cider Vinegar is a Strange mini series with some interesting story choices and manipulations of the real events that took places, but it still manages to tell a shocking yet fascinating story about deception and dark side of the wellness industry.

I have been an avid researcher of Belle Gibson and her infamous scam for years now. The story of Belle Gibson is such a fascinating story for me because it horrifies me to my core, yet it makes me want to read more about the story. So when it was announced that Netflix would be releasing a mini series based on Belle Gibson, I was genuinely excited.

I got to finish the entire series in a few days, and while I was not disappointed, I am still confused at the directions it took. For one, I thought it was bizarre how the team made the series to be like a "teen girl" like drama at times, with pop songs in the intro. Next, I thought it was strange how they made their own story within the real life story, specifically the one about how Belle was caught.

However, I really enjoyed the performances of the actresses and actors. I found their performances to be convincing and they all seemed to be into their roles. I also really liked their decision of adding POVs of the Belle Gibson story from other characters, as it makes the story more gripping and you can imagine the shock of the world when they discovered that Belle was a fraud.

Overall, I enjoyed the series. It's definitely far from perfect, but I believe that the actors/actresses made it as interesting as it was. Oh, and if you have not read about Belle Gibson, I highly recommend reading about her story before watching this series.