‘Inventing Anna’ Review: A Compelling True Story About New York City High Life Is Ruined By Poor Writing

the 9-episode series tells the story of the fake German (really Russian) heiress named Anna, who swooped into Manhattan in 2014 and set about establishing herself as an ‘It’ girl with big business plans and a huge trust fund. The trust fund did not exist, month long stays at various swanky hotels were never paid, and somehow, the check — or in this case, the German wire transfer — was always in the mail.In reality, she was a Russian-born girl named Anna Sorokin, who moved to Germany as a teen.

Julia Fox and Anna Delvey are two viral sensations of 2022 and apparently, they are friends. Kanye West’s former muse and the fraudster are even working on a secret project together.

Inventing Anna, the based on the viral New York magazine article about con woman Anna “Delvey” Sorokin, I thought, “That was fun. I’m sure other people will feel the same, because I understand such things.” After all, Hustlers, the 2019 movie based on another New York magazine feature (written by Jessica Pressler, who also covered Delvey) had been . And scammers like Elizabeth Holmes, Billy McFarland (the Fyre Fest guy, who is a minor character in the show), and the Operation Varsity Blues parents were all hot topics.

Inventing Anna is the latest Netflix series to have us gripped to our TV screens.The new binge-worthy series tells the story of Anna Sorokin, also known as Anna Delvey, who defrauded New York’s elite by pretending to be a German heiress. She posed as a heiress who hailed from Europe with a trust fund of $60 million (£44million), and lived a life of luxury thanks to her fake persona.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorWhen bringing a “whole story [that] is completely true, except for all the parts that are totally made up” to life, “Inventing Anna” costume designers Lyn Paolo and Laura Frecon had to dive into Instagram.“The very beginning of the project was actually more about research and matching everything that the real Anna wore for her Instagram — which sort of became our Greek chorus,” Paolo told Variety. “And that was extensive research… Even before we got into the fashion elements, we had to recreate that whole Instagram wall, and also all of the court looks.”“Inventing Anna” follows faux-heiress Anna Delvey (née Anna Sorokin) (Julia Garner) as she awaits trial for grand larceny and theft of services.

Shonda Rhimes’ limited Netflix series about Anna Delvey above the typical true-crime drama is the designer fashions the characters wear onscreen. Like, which Delvey watched to learn English, and, directed by David Frankel, who helms two of the series’ episodes, is as much about the fashion as it is about a young woman who pretended to be a German heiress to con her way through the rich and elite of New York City.

No thank you. Playing the faux German heiress Anna Delvey on Inventing Anna has made star Julia Garner realize that fame is often more trouble than it’s worth.

, celebrity trainer Kacy Duke is sharing how she really feels about the Netflix series. Portrayed by Laverne Cox, Duke was one of the many people sucked in and then conned by Anna Delvey, aka the “Fake German Heiress” convicted of scamming some of New York’s elite, high-end hotels and restaurants and banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. “Wow, what a ride it’s been,” Duke tells ET’s Lauren Zima after watching all nine episodes of the binge-worthy.

Fake heiress Anna Sorokin, otherwise known as Anna Delvey, is working with Surviving R. Kelly producer Bunim/Murray Productions on a limited documentary series.

Critics might have found fault with Shondra Rhimes‘ admittedly bloated Anna Delvey miniseries “Inventing Anna,” but after early screenings, it was obvious to any member of the media it was going to be a smash. That prediction has easily come to pass with the limited series landing at the top spot of the streaming service the entire weekend.

Anna Sorokin aka Anna Delvey, the fake German heiress, was paid a hefty sum of money from Netflix for her story in a Shonda Rhimes produced series titled, . 

Netflix is releasing a brand-new drama for February about the life of a German heiress who stole the hearts of many of New York’s socialites.

Anna Delvey, who swindled New York’s elite out of hundreds of thousands of dollars  – if only the show had faith in its own premise. Now streaming on Netflix, “Inventing Anna” is based on a viral 2018 New York Magazine article about Delvey (nee Sorokin), 31 — Russian-born and raised in Germany — who defrauded banks, hotels and acquaintances while posing as a trust-fund heiress in New York between 2013-2017. She was convicted for multiple accounts of grand larceny, indicted in 2017 and incarcerated from 2019-2021. Helmed by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner (“Ozark”) — a skilled actress who seems to have been given bad directing to hide behind a distracting marble-mouthed accent to play Delvey — “Inventing Anna” is a bloated affair, with episodes regularly clocking in at over an hour, which feels punishing.

, Arian Moayed has joined another high-profile series,, creator Shonda Rhimes’ true-crime drama about Anna Delvey, the convicted fraudster popularly known as the Fake German Heiress. Moayed, the 41-year-old actor who was also recently seen in and, talks to ET about his scene-stealing performance as Delvey’s no-nonsense lawyer, Todd Spodek, and having to perform his big courtroom scenes in front of his real-life counterpart.Initially hired when Delvey, portrayed here by Julia Garner, was first arrested for not paying for an outstanding hotel bill, Spodek is eventually tasked with defending her against multiple larceny charges related to her attempt to secure a $20 million loan for her elite club, the Anna Delvey Foundation (ADF), as well as sticking one of her friends with a $60,000 bill after failing to pay for their lavish trip to Morocco. Unlike members of New York society, the city’s high-end hotels and restaurants, or even the bank executives who fall under the guise of this German heiress, her lawyer was not enchanted by any of that.

Inventing Anna is Netflix's newest release this week and the cast list includes some prominent actors.

NEW YORK -- Julia Garner admits to feeling “intimidated” when she met Anna Sorokin — who posed as a German heiress in New York society named Anna Delvey — and was later convicted of fraud.Garner portrays Sorokin in the new Shonda Rhimes series for Netflix, “Inventing Anna,” debuting Friday. What surprised Garner at that prison meeting? Sorokin was likable.“I just really wanted to get her energy,” said Garner. “What was coming across — that I didn’t expect — was how bubbly she was, how charming.”Garner walked away with insight into just how Sorokin was able to pull off her schemes.“When I got out of that visit, I was like, ’Wow, that’s why she was so close in getting everything that she wanted.

Netflix show about her, she has a ridiculous tech entrepreneur boyfriend.On the series, which stars Julia Garner in the title role and is out Friday, Anna’s on-screen love interest is Chase Sikorski (Saamer Usmani, “Succession”). Chase is introduced to the audience in episode 2, when he’s giving a Ted Talk about the potential to “cloud source” your dreams.

Angelique Jackson When a story about a faux-heiress called “Anna Delvey” first appeared in New York Magazine in May 2018, actor Julia Garner was among the voracious readers who pored over journalist Jessica Pressler’s account of how Anna Sorokin, a twentysomething Russian-born German woman, had scammed her way into the top branches of New York business and society by pretending to have a $60 million fortune.“I had the same reaction that the whole world had,” Garner recalls, telling Variety she read the piece, titled “Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It,” the week it published. “Then two months later, when I heard that it was going to be a series, I was not surprised about it at all.

Inventing Anna when I realized how wild this show is. It happens when Vivian (Anna Chlumsky) goes to visit scammer Anna Delvey (Julia Garner) in jail to interview her for a story. The crimes of Anna Delvey are all Vivian can think about, and for good reason.