Netflix’s “Inventing Anna”

A Bait-and-Switch, Complex, and Fraudulent Story

Review Story By: Lexi Goodman

Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” is inspired by a juicy magazine article featuring a true story of the fraudulent Germain heiress Anna Delvey, who may be the main character, but she is not the protagonist. 

Anna Delvey, born Anna Sorokin, is the seeming German heiress who used her crisp tone, dry wit, and harsh consonants in an intriguing European accent to enter New York high society and become a socialite. Delvey is a con artist who nearly started a Soho House for even more exclusive affluent elites, such as wealthy businessmen and women, of New York. Elites were deceived by her composure, amazed by her connections, and reluctant to believe someone who knew the most luxurious wine to purchase might not be who she pretended to be. That perplexingly rich voice could sweep away her nationality, her parents’ economic position, her education, and job experience. I wouldn’t know where to begin attempting to decipher her hidden purposes, desires or delusions. 

Image Credits: Aaron Epstein/Netflix

Sorokin was arrested in 2017, found guilty of eight counts of larceny and other offenses in April 2019, and sentenced to four to 12 years in prison, according to the article published by People. She was released on parole after serving almost four years for good behavior in February 2021. Six weeks of freedom later, she was placed in custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in upstate New York for overstaying her visa, where she is now waiting for a resolution to her case.

Based on the viral 2018 article published in NY magazine by staff writer Jessica Pressler, a former friend of Delvey, Netflix launched their own version of the story on Feb. 11, entitled “Inventing Anna.” ​​The show tries to expose the inner world of its title character by using the same ruse she uses on several others. According to the NY Times article, the Russian-German heiress scammed banks, hotels, and friends in New York between 2013 and 2017. The show has nine one-hour episodes directed by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner.

“Inventing Anna” is a complicated narrative that relishes moments of Delvey’s life through the interviews and flashbacks with Vivian Kent portrayed by Anna Chlumsky, a journalist who gets hooked on her story and strives to publish it before she gives birth. The series has more depth than it shows, but it is fundamentally a fantastic modern drama. It is fascinating when Delvey continues to form different relationships and connections in each episode that start off on solid ground and usually end in chaos. This series is for people who want to be astounded.

Garner’s portrayal of Anna is exquisitely captivating to watch. If you closed your eyes, you might think the real Anna is speaking. Garner is a chameleon performer, disappearing into her role of Delvey and iconic portrayal of Ruth Langmore from “Ozark.” Even as I observe her manipulate hotels, acquire another element in her project, the Anna Delvey Foundation (ADF), and move to the next phase of her swindle, she never bores me or makes me lose my emotional connection to her. It is apparent that Delvey considers luxury as a way of life and that she would die if she did not live within it. It’s hard to keep my eyes off Garner’s portrayal of Delvey, who is a brilliant mix of anger and ambiguity when crossed, tenderness and charm, acute intelligence and an inexplicable oddity that you can’t put your finger on.

Chlumsky is outstanding as Kent, but she doesn’t add to the story. I felt like the actress did a great job of making Kent have her spotlight, but it was an unnecessary character and perspective to show in the series. Kent makes the story more confusing than it already is as she is going through her own obstacles with work, marriage, and a baby on the way. We don’t need another complicated mess on top of Delvey. However, I found Kent’s visits with Delvey in jail fascinating. As Delvey is wearing a grey jumpsuit in jail, she asks Kent, who is wearing work attire during their interviews, “Why do you dress like that?” Delvey also said, “You look poor,” with a sense of disgust and sarcasm. 

The series alternates between Kent’s interactions with Anna in jail and her investigations, as well as sequences illustrating Anna’s path from a working-class town outside of Moscow to Rikers Island prison in New York. Infatuated boyfriends, tricked hotels, and businesswomen who utilize her as a housewife and don’t double-check their bank accounts lead to lots of fraud. Sorokin became well-known for duping banks, art collectors, exhibit owners, fashion designers, and socialites who wanted their delusions to remain hidden during her court trial.

Until little signals lead to larger suspicions, betrayed friends keep their frustrations to themselves, and the queen of con artists is eventually exposed and incarcerated. Despite this, people who were fond of her, including myself, can’t help but wish that things had turned out differently. I favored Delvey’s story because of the conflict with Anna Sorokin, a poor Russian woman who transformed herself into a fabricated heiress named Anna Delvey. Garner, who made her name as the breakout star of “Ozark,” presented Delvey in a charming and engaging light. Delvey started at the bottom of Manhattan’s strict social ladder, and it’s fascinating to watch this character work her way to the top, even though she eventually falls back down again.

Image Credits: Aaron Epstein/Netflix

THE PROS…

The show has the skills and ability to accomplish something exceptional because of its talented actors and production crew. It’s also worth watching for its storyline, which is based on real-life events. The emotionlessness of Garner’s portrayal as Delvey is intriguing. Her accent is often confusing and odd, but she sounds like the real Delvey. It also has stunning fashion and scenery. This series has so much glamor in it (which I adored), and I was also introduced to various destinations, primarily New York City. Each scene was well-captured, which added to the series’ appeal for me. Worthy flashbacks were also a plus. Garner gave it her all here, and I think the flashbacks were really the series’ best representation. It was interesting to watch Delvey interact with lovers, friends, hotel clerks, drivers, and personal trainers as she went from place to place.

THE CONS…

It was a bit confusing to include a storyline based on fraud and include a fictional journalist who was not relevant to the plot. The story of Kent takes light away from Sorokin, from marriage therapy sessions to the problems at work with her boss to her stressful pregnancy timing with publishing the story before she goes into labor. Sorokin’s story is actually more about her becoming the story: journalists, lawyers, internet culture, and, of course, Anna herself, as an icon. Because of her success, the show can’t seem to decide whether Delvey is a revolutionary feminist or someone who just wants money. It doesn’t seem to clarify if her victories came from divine intellect or from corrupt systems that were too amazed by her supposed wealth to do their proper research. The thing about “Inventing Anna” that bothers me is that it feels so simple. It is as if the primary problems in this woman’s life have been knocked down to fit the misunderstood famous woman model that has taken over television and mainstream media. For example, the concept that women are all misunderstood victims and viewers are participants in their downfalls is a significant theme in recent films involving famous icons such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. I didn’t love the journalistic approach. This aspect of the show didn’t work for me, and it made the episodes longer than necessary. Vivian’s persona seemed self-centered to me, and I felt we spent too much time on her life rather than the more engaging narrative of Anna’s.

My Concluding Thoughts:

All in all, this series has a fascinating storyline and the fashion elements alone are worth watching. I would have loved the series to concentrate more on the flashbacks, such as her childhood experiences in school and adult relationships she built on an identity that was not real, since they were so compelling. Despite the lengthiness of the episodes, they were so captivating that I wish there was a second season. It left me wanting to know so much more about Delvey’s upbringing and how she got the money to start a new life in America to begin with. I will definitely be binging this show more than once. The real key ingredient is that this series is both effusively entertaining and complex. It is more ambiguous than it looks and achieves enough fascinating reflections on modern business, identity, and storytelling to support its sensational entertainment value.