There are few true stories that feel as perfectly poised for the screen as Anna Delvey’s. When New York Magazine published its 2018 exposé about a cherub-cheeked, twenty-something redhead who posed as a German heiress and scammed her way to the upper echelons of New York’s high society, it was inevitable that the story would go viral. Following an Instagram trail of deception and designer clothes, reporter Jessica Presler had uncovered a story that read like a crime novel. Or a Netflix script.
Naturally, TV behemoth Shonda Rhimes acquired the rights. Delvey’s story calls for exactly the kind of high-budget, higher-drama treatment at which Rhimes (previously Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal) excels. And when Julia Garner – Ozark’s breakout star and one of the most interesting young actors working today – was cast as Delvey, the series seemed destined for success. But the result falls flat. Inventing Anna is a stretched-out nine-episode romp that never quite catches the enigma of its protagonist – or matches her appeal.
