‘This is a true story based on a lie...’
For nerds who spend much of their waking life watching films or TV shows, it can be difficult to decide what to watch and what to leave behind. With cinema, it tends to be genre, then director, then cast, that helps me to decide what to devote my time to. As the role of director is less influential on television, sorting the wheat from the chaff can be difficult. Therefore, the cast becomes more of a draw on the small screen. Kaitlyn Dever is one of those actors who is not only incredibly talented, but she also makes great choices. Her work on Unbelievable and Dopesick is sensational, and she has now confirmed her status as the queen of the miniseries with Apple Cider Vinegar…
Based on true events, Apple Cider Vinegar is the story of Belle Gibson (Dever), an Australian influencer who became hugely successful after claiming to manage the symptoms of a brain cancer diagnosis through diet, exercise and alternative medicine. Her cooking app, The Whole Pantry, was massively popular until people started to question the validity of Gibson’s story. We are also introduced to Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey), another influencer who aspired to use wellness as a way to beat cancer with tragic results (based on the real-life case of Jessica Ainscough). Elsewhere, Succession‘s Ashley Zukerman also appears as Belle’s long-suffering partner, Clive.
While shows about fraudsters are very much part of the fabric of the Netflix TV offering, Apple Cider Vinegar is elevated by Dever’s incredibly assured and captivating performance, and also just by how batshit crazy this story becomes. Writer-showrunner Samantha Strauss ensures that, at six episodes, the characters are given time to breathe (the show never outstays its welcome either), and Dever somehow manages to be both abhorrent but also bewitching and even sympathetic at times. It’s her job to make us believe that this woman could be so enchanting that it enabled her to live a life of complete fabrication, and on that front, Dever emphatically succeeds.
Apple Cider Vinegar might feel like more of the same from Netflix, but for me, this is low-key one of the most watchable shows of the year. It deserves a bigger audience.
