Warning: Spoilers ahead
Inventing Anna, the new show on Netflix, is a true-crime series about an investigative journalist, Vivian Kent, who goes on a mission to uncover the real identity of Anna Delvey, a sociopathic con artist.
Taking place in the heart of New York City, Anna, whose original name is Anna Sorokin, poses as a filthy-rich German heiress with an ambitious aim to scam the top banking firms in the city, deceiving her way into the pockets of New York’s wealthiest.
From the looks of her influencer-esque Instagram page, one would think Anna had a never-ending closet filled exclusively with designer clothes, massive real-estate projects, private jet trips to five-star hotels and all the gold in the world. In reality, Anna managed to steal a private jet, spend tens of thousands of dollars at hotels using fake cards and almost tricked her way into a 40 million dollar loan with a prestigious bank.
Soon after Anna was put into custody, her many hotel scams grabbed the attention of journalist Jessica Pressler (or Vivian Kent in the series), who decides to follow Anna’s trial and get to the bottom of her lies. However, the message the journalist (and viewers watching the show) leaves with at the end of the trial is a lot deeper than the story we initially set out for.
In a world where fame, fortune, power and status are highly valued by society, it becomes easy for people to portray a false reality they’ve created for themselves– especially behind a screen.
Anna Sorokin came to New York City with a dream, a vision and a goal. Being a small-town girl in Germany, she wanted nothing more than a big break. To know she was dangerously close to that only to have it taken away from her in an instant, more than destroyed her. I am sure many of us can relate to this feeling in some way.
When we are deprived of the one thing we were so close to achieving, it can be quite easy to feel a desperation to escape, at least until we’re ready to bounce back. A nice vacation, logging off for a bit, relaxing by a pool––the temptation can be magnetic.
That is exactly what Anna did in the series when she lost her loan with Fortress Bank. Although her methods were illegal, to say the least, she fled from New York City to Los Angeles to try her luck once again and escape her failed dream in “the Big Apple.”
Anna was taken into custody after being set up by a so-called “friend,” named Rachel while staying at a luxurious rehab centre in L.A. Rachel tricked Anna into thinking they would go out for lunch together when in reality, she called the cops on her.
The delusional bubble that was Anna’s wealth, fame and status burst at this point. She was taken into custody and sent to court to fight her case.
Honestly, some aspects of the show were quite easy to relate to. It had me thinking, “Am I like Anna in some way?” The themes mentioned in the show like having big dreams, telling white lies, discovering fake friends and wanting to escape in times of struggle all add up. It is not hard to see how Anna strung herself up in the mess she made. As her lawyer said, “There’s a little bit of Anna in all of us”.
The lawyer is right. Many of us have posted an Instagram picture with a less than fathomable story behind it or told a harmless lie so others can perceive us differently. The show gave us validation that we all want to be known for something––anything. Whether it’s “scamming” people online, in real life, at work or in school, we seek some type of recognition from society––a type one can only ever be in the pursuit of, but never really have.
The series shows us all how sometimes we seek to find gratification elsewhere: The things we think are missing in ourselves.