There’s a desperation to how frustrating Netflix’s “Apple Cider Vinegar” is as a viewing experience. The latest entry in the based-on-a-true-story scammer TV genre, the series begs us to try and sympathize with the unsympathetic. Or, at the very least, it asks us to find compassion for those who would go on to weaponize pseudoscience and wellness culture. And as you can assume from that dubious and tall ask, it only kind of works at best. Directed by Jeffrey Walker and created by Samantha Strauss (“Nine Perfect Strangers”), the series is often engaging but, ironically enough, lacks substance the wellness industrial complex is always touting.
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Written by Strauss and Anya Beyersdof, “Apple Cider Vinegar” follows the early days and eventual ascent to the success of wellness guru Belle Gibson, played by Kaitlyn Dever (“No One Will Save You”), who’d go on to create the app The Whole Pantry and, later, a companion book. However, her success is built on fraudulent lies. Her media empire hinges on the lie that helped launch her career—that she has brain cancer. As her career progresses, she continually digs her heels into that lie, fabricating further diagnoses until the duplicities catch up to her.
What makes Gibson’s story fascinating through its retelling is the contrast between fellow wellness expert Milla (Alycia Debnam-Carey). However, the latter is diagnosed with a rare cancer at the start of the series. She believes initially that the diagnosis is a result of her own actions and mistreatment of her body, leading her to believe that the solution is in her hands, too. Bypassing the doctor’s recommendation for amputation of the affected limb, she goes full throttle into seeking alternative treatments not approved by her doctors.
Both women use their platforms to try and help “cure others suffering from illnesses. And while both are culpable in harming those who follow them, Milla is, at the very least, facing a real life or death situation. Meanwhile, as described by another character, Belle is a parasite looking to leech off of the pain of others for her own benefit.
“Apple Cider Vinegar” finds its strength in the two women and their contrasting lives. Belle is at her most pitiful at the start of the series. She’s young and pregnant, and the father of her child is barely in the picture, and her mother is too self-absorbed to help. We feel for her as she sets up a baby shower only for no one to come, watching as her embarrassment fuels a hurried clean-up as she rushes home to eat blue frosted cupcakes alone.
But that pity doesn’t last long as she takes to the internet and crafts sympathy through lies where she couldn’t find compassion in real life. She sees Milla’s perfect appearing life—a loving fiance and family in a beachside home—and finds a way to chase that same following for adulation. Watching it spiral out of control is one of the most engaging parts of the series, even as it’s nothing more than a slow-motion self-implosion.
Dever is excellent as Belle, letting Belle’s true colors come through even when she’s trying her best to mask her capacity for cruelty. Dever leverages furrowed brows and perpetual frowns, highlighting how unhappy this woman is. While we struggle to accept how Belle could so thoroughly manipulate everyone in her orbit, Dever’s performance and clever writing make us understand it. Casual compliments and well-nocked criticisms keep her in control, and Dever excels in that balance of charm and temperamental meltdowns.
Debnam-Carey isn’t quite as confident in the role, but she gets better later in the series as Milla’s personal and professional worlds crumble. But some of the best performances come from the supporting players. Aisha Dee, as Chanelle, Milla’s best friend and Belle’s manager, is endlessly charismatic. While we don’t get enough of her backstory through the writing, she makes every scene count, grounding Chanelle and making her feel lived in.
Matt Nable, as Joe, Milla’s father, offers vulnerability to a character who could easily be lost to the fringes. Mark Coles Smith, as Justin, makes the investigative reporting sequences work even as the story itself runs tired. But despite the story’s strong performances and inherent intrigue, Apple Cider Vinegar loses momentum due to awkward pacing and unnecessary back-and-forth.
By jumping around the narrative, the story loses itself. A more linear, straightforward narrative would’ve allowed for strong forward motion and more considerable emotional outcomes. It works best as a character study and less as a fully formed narrative. The series soars in individual pieces and snapshots. The parallel between Belle and Milla’s mothers, one vindictive and dismissive, the other compassionate and supportive, is striking. The subtle ways in which Belle’s narcissism and cruelty manifest offer insight. But other stories fall by the wayside.
There needed to be more time with Milla as the focus. Tracking her ups and downs with her company would draw great potency from the ending. And while Justin works while he’s investigating Belle’s lies, his story with his wife, Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), is less effective. The idea to show another woman who, while undergoing cancer treatments, finds inspiration in Belle makes sense to showcase how pervasively insidious her lies were. But we get this in a storyline where a woman is seeking treatment for her young son, who has brain cancer. By the end of the series, it’s hard to discern the point of Lucy’s storyline.
Wellness culture is inescapable due to the omnipresent nature of social media and our toxic relationship with it. Like one TikTok recipe, you’ll be fed countless “weight loss hacks” and recipes next. From juicing to cleanses to ice baths and Whole 30, the onslaught of info dumps on how we can be, feel, and act better is relentless. And yet, despite the wealth of material at its disposal, “Apple Cider Vinegar” only rarely amounts to surpassing regurgitation. The audience is even goaded into googling how the story ends, making the journey throughout the six episodes all the more pointless.
“Apple Cider Vinegar” is an excellent platform for showcasing Devers’s talents and versatility. And it’s enjoyable enough in small bursts and character-driven scenes. But as a whole start-to-finish narrative, it lacks the necessary direction and energy to keep it truly captivating. [B-/C+]
