Scammer culture has been explored in dozens of shows over the last decade. Despite the seemingly endless number of these stories, they continue to pop up in the digital age. Apple Cider Vinegar becomes the latest story to join Netflix’s long line of shows centered around a scammer. While the series features some good performances, Apple Cider Vinegar is a show that seems to resent its audience. In these moments, the writing takes us out of the show’s attempts to be subversive.
Apple Cider Vinegar — The Plot
In 2013, the Whole Pantry app became an overnight success. With hundreds of thousands of downloads, it landed on Apple’s list of the most downloaded apps. It’s creator, Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), earned international celebrity as her story as a woman with brain cancer became a legend. However, Gibson’s story was not only based on falsehoods but on stories stolen from actual survivors. As her former allies revealed Gibson’s truth, she became one of the most hated women in the tech industry.
Apple Cider Vinegar gamifies its visuals.
In the modern era of scammer culture, there’s been a reliance on storytellers to blame internet culture. After all, when overnight celebrities are crowned without much background research, it’s easy to see how a get-rich-quick scheme could actually work. In this regard, Apple Cider Vinegar tries to innovate slightly, allowing internet visuals to take over the screen during big moments.
It’s not just text bubbles (if anything, Apple Cider Vinegar deplays faux notes written between characters), but explosions of emojis. The digital world and the fame that some characters achieve cannot be easily recreated. However, showing these images recalls the Vegas slot machine visuals employed by social media apps. Visually, the directors showcase the dopamine hit as an all-consuming feeling. In this regard, Apple Cider Vinegar succeeds, but the approach still feels rote.
It’s easy to blame the events of Apple Cider Vinegar on the internet, especially as The Whole Pantry became an early smart-app fad. However, Gibson rose to prominence because of a frustration with the medical system and beliefs in finding non-traditional treatments. Exploring those elements and showing the corruption of major corporations is when Apple Cider Vinegar is at its best. However, the cheaper gimmicks lead to more frustrating aspects of the series.
The questionable tone of Apple Cider Vinegar
From its opening scenes in every episode, we are told that Belle Gibson did not get paid for Apple Cider Vinegar. In fact, we’re told it by several different actors, who speak directly into the camera as if they’re in The Big Short or Fleabag. However, it’s never just the characters telling us it’s “Based on a True Lie.” Instead, Apple Cider Vinegar seems to judge its audience for watching the show from the jump.
There’s something particularly frustrating about the critique in this case. It’s one thing to say, “Why are you watching this tabloid garbage? This figure ruined lives.” When Apple Cider Vinegar is playing in that serious tone, it’s very effective. However, it’s also possible to push that anger too far. There’s an aggression behind the other moments that creates a faux subversion on Apple Cider Vinegar‘s part.
The series never takes any swerves regarding how it tells the story of Belle Gibson. If anything, it’s very formulaic and in lockstep with the genre raised by Netflix. Additionally, there are no form-breaking episodes that shift the artistic direction of the series. Instead, Apple Cider Vinegar feels like it’s ranting at you about not eating fast food while it’s actively feeding you a Happy Meal. This comes through in one continuous tone and never provides the fluctuations to tell the story well.
The performances in Apple Cider Vinegar are better than they should be.
Then again, Kaitlyn Dever has lifted projects on her back before. The actress has proven to be one of the most intriguing young performers, pulling incredible emotion out of her material. When she lets it flow, there are few performers better at pulling the audience into the pathos of the character. Sure enough, she finds ways to ground Belle Gibson as a woman who lucked into success and thus spiraled into her lies.
Yet, for all the lies she would spew to cancer families, she suffered from true loss and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother. This becomes the takeaway as Dever turns Gibson’s pathetic ambition into something worth exploring. The other characters do not get as much depth, and this is where Apple Cider Vinegar falls apart. Ashley Zuckerman provides an equally nuanced portrayal as Gibson’s boyfriend and stepfather to her child. However, he gets considerably less screentime to fully explore the tragedy or culpability of his actions. Aisha Dee (Chanelle) gets a few great moments at the end of the series, but up to those moments, she feels weirdly underused.
Alycia Debham-Carey (Milla) becomes the foil for Belle, but frankly, her character’s choices telegraph her fate long before we reach it. Debham-Carey does little to make the character feel grounded, and instead, she vacillates between a mean girl and shell-shocked grief. Mark Coles Smith (Justin) does not make much headway either. Both of their characters appear indicative and hurt throughout most of Apple Cider Vinegar, meaning we feel little surprise when they reach their big moments. They’re not poor performances; they’re just mostly flat characters as written.
Should I watch Apple Cider Vinegar?
It’s hard to recommend a show that actively hates its audience for watching it. Yet true crime and scammer fans will certainly flock to this story. Unlike some of these other shows, Apple Cider Vinegar shows truly the pain of those suffering from cancer, but it still feels hollow to act like this issue has been solved. After all, Belle Gibson is still in her early 30s. She’s still got time to pull off another scheme that takes us for all our money.
Watch Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix. It begins streaming on February 6, 2025. FandomWire was provided with all six episodes for this review.
Apple Cider Vinegar Review — Another Run-of-the-Mill Scammer Story
While Apple Cider Vinegar covers a subject ripe for coverage in a true-crime show, Kaitlyn Dever caannot save Apple Cider Vinegar from its worst impulses.
