We have barely had time to draw breath after the whirlwind anti-romance that was Inventing Anna, the story of super-grifter Anna Sorokin, who parlayed an innate grasp of upper-class manners into a life of plenty among the moneyed elite of New York (until they found out they were the ones funding it). Now we have The Dropout (Disney+), the story of the other great female fraudster of recent years, Elizabeth Holmes, founder of the medical company Theranos. It claimed it had developed technology that would revolutionise blood testing, and with it a massive part of the US healthcare system. In 2015, Forbes named Holmes the youngest self-made female billionaire in the country, after Theranos was valued at $9bn (£6.75bn). Her downfall, once rumours of fraud started circulating, was precipitate. She is now on bail awaiting sentencing for convictions for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Unlike Inventing Anna, which was a heady, soapy rush that enjoyed the glamour of its protagonist, and wasn’t too bothered by any need to investigate her motivations, The Dropout plays it straight. Possibly too straight – there are times when a little levity as the impossibilities mount would not go amiss – but all in the service of a story that blows your mind quite as comprehensively as Sorokin’s.
