Inventing Anna
Inventing Anna was a 2022 mini series on Netflix about Anna Sorokin, who assumed the name Anna Delvey. Delvey infiltrated New York’s high society by convincing them she was a German socialite and an heiress to a massive fortune while scamming them out of millions. These are real life “scammer” shows like Inventing Anna we think you may like if you liked Inventing Anna.
Netflix promoted Inventing Anna with the tagline “This whole story is completely true. Except for all of the parts that are totally made up.” So who really knows what was true and what was made up? What we do know is that the show was nominated for a bunch of awards, won none, and precipitated a defamation lawsuit by one of the real people portrayed in the show.
Julia Garner (of Ozark fame) was excellent as the title character. Inventing Anna was one of the most celebrated miniseries during the time period portraying real life scammers.
Shows Like Inventing Anna – The Dropout
The Dropout was also a 2022 mini series, this time on Hulu. The show depicted the rise and fall of Theranos, a Silicon Valley biotech company that was based totally on lies. Theranos swindled some high profile investors out of over $1 billion. The Dropout garnered more favorable reviews than Inventing Anna and won several awards, including five by Amanda Seyfried as lead actress in a limited series. Seyfried was outstanding as Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos.
Like Inventing Anna, it is hard to know what was true and what was embellished in The Dropout. Even as a minor example, this writer used to live near Fuki Sushi, a Japanese restaurant portrayed as a venue for a meeting in the series. The Dropout showed Fuki Sushi as a fancy upscale restaurant when it reality it is anything but.
If you liked Inventing Anna, The Dropout is the best recommendation for another show you may like, even if only to hear Seyfried’s impression of Holmes’ phony low voice.
See streaming options at The Dropout.
Shows Like Inventing Anna – WeCrashed
WeCrashed was also a 2022 mini series, this time on Apple TV+. This “scammer” series followed Adam and Rebekah Neumann, founders of WeWork, a “coworking space company.” The Neumanns characterized their real estate company as a technology company to induce investors to invest in the company at astronomical valuations. The company went public in 2021, and at its peak was valued at $47 billion before eventually declaring bankruptcy in 2023. The show contained a mix of real and fictional characters and events but supposedly even the fictional elements were based on reality.
For some reason, this show made me angrier than the two shows listed above. Maybe it was just great acting by Jaret Leto and Anne Hathaway as the Neumann couple or maybe they just seemed more full of BS than Delvey and Holmes if that is even possible. In any case, if you liked Inventing Anna, we think you will like WeCrashed.
See streaming options at WeCrashed.
Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber
Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber was also a 2022 miniseries, this time on Showtime. SuperPumped was a little different than the above three mini series. Based on the show, Uber was definitely guilty of a misogynist work culture and took liberties with its technology to advance the company and fool Apple and regulators. However, Uber did (and still does) have a revolutionary product that has value. Uber had its IPO in 2019. While the stock dropped in opening day trading, it is now trading about double the IPO as of this writing.
This mini series is more about the battle for the company between founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and venture capitalist Bill Gurley, played by Kyle Chandler. I found this mini series the most entertaining of all of those listed here, mainly due to Gordon-Levitt’s over the top portrayal of Kalanick.
If you liked Inventing Anna, we think you will like SuperPumped.
See streaming options at Super Pumped.
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal
Netflix released Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal as a 103 minute film documentary in 2021. This “scammer” show was about the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. Matthew Modine played the main character Rick Singer. The film featured reenactments and interviews with real people involved in the scandal. Operation Varsity Blues has the highest Rotten Tomatoes of all the shows listed here. Modine’s performance was apparently extremely accurate; however, I found the whole show comical mainly due to his appearance, which was apparently a remarkably on point portrayal of Singer.
See streaming options at Varsity Blues.
These are four “scammer” shows like Inventing Anna we think you will like.
Want to see shows like Suits? See our post at Suits.
