Netflix’s dramatisation of the real-life story of fake German heiress Anna Delvey is pacy, multilayered and gleeful. And Ozark’s Julia Garner is mesmerising – you can’t take your eyes off her
Who, from a safe distance, doesn’t love a grifter? Especially if the grift is on a grand scale and the marks bring it largely upon themselves? Step forward, then, Anna Delvey – born Anna Sorokin, though that never bothered her overmuch. The apparent German heiress parlayed a quick wit, good wardrobe and non-specific Mitteleuropean accent into an entrée into New York high society. She extracted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the elite fooled by her poise, impressed by her connections and unable to imagine that anyone who knew which wine to order could not be everything she claimed to be.
Sorokin was charged with various counts of larceny and other crimes, and in April 2019 found guilty of eight of them. But what a wild ride she had, and this new Netflix dramatisation of her story enjoys every last minute of it. Inventing Anna comes from the Shonda Rhimes stable and stays within the Shondaland (her production company) comfort zone – a multilayered tale brilliantly told, at pace and with glee. It may have more heft than it initially appears, but it is played essentially as a modern soap opera – and God, is it fun. This is a show for those mainly looking to marvel – at the effrontery, the style, the steel nerves of the twentysomething weaving webs from inside a house of cards built on thin ice. Those who are looking for an in-depth, analytical take on the Delvey phenomenon, her pathology or motivations – which the handful of previous documentaries about her have lacked – will have to wait a little longer.
