What happens when a social influencer builds her entire rep on a disgusting lie? Netflix’s new series “Apple Cider Vinegar” takes a fictionalized look at an Australian case where that did happen and it serves as a warning for today’s viral ways.
Meanwhile, the combo of Barry Keoghan and Christopher Abbott set off acting fireworks, while Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell, um, don’t.
Here’s our roundup.
“Apple Cider Vinegar”: In the early days of the social influencing movement, Australian Belle Gibson emerged as a breakout star. The attractive wellness “expert” imparted to devoted followers a too-good-to-be-true Instagram backstory about finding radical hope and an extended lease on life through recalibrating her diet and lifestyle, changes she adopted after a devastating brain cancer diagnosis.
It was one hell of a heartbreaking story, and many swarmed to her for hope and inspiration and to support her.
But it was a scam, constructed around a bedrock of lies, including that she even had cancer. The well-documented case caught writer Samantha Strauss’s notice while she was in Melbourne in 2015, a time when Belle’s claims were denounced and she was accused of siphoning funds earmarked for charity.
Strauss extracted key situations and themes from the case and then fictionalized it into this riveting six-part Netflix series. “Apple Cider Vinegar” doubles as both a searing and entertaining — albeit shocking — character study of an out-of-control narcissist (portrayed with sociopathic guile by a stellar Kaitlyn Dever) and as an example of the profusion of so-called wellness experts flooding social media channels. While they look great in photos, they sometimes float unsubstantiated, outrageous and dangerous claims.
Strauss intertwines Belle’s ascent from scrappy single motherhood to celebrated cookbook author and personality with the tales of others: Milla Blake (a heartbreaking Alycia Debnam-Carey), who is also an influencer and Belle’s early idol and someone who genuinely believes that her alternative wellness routines of coffee enemas and juices can keep her cancer at bay; Chanelle (Aisha Dee), a friend of both Milla and Belle’s who grows to suspect Belle is a phony; and Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), a cancer-stricken woman who follows both women online and then goes on her own journey. She’s married to an investigative journalist (Mark Coles-Smith) intent on exposing Belle’s fraud.
Series creator Strauss’s eye-brow-raising treatment finds characters shattering the fourth wall and it’s a means to remind us that not every ounce of “Apple Cider Vinegar” contains drops of truth. So be it. It is a damning portrait of our “I’m an expert on everything” culture, and it’s told well. “Apple Cider Vinegar” throws into its creative blender all the right ingredients to warn us that not everything we see and hear on social media is good can do our bodies, our minds and even our souls good. It’s an important message delivered with punch, wit and conviction. Details: 3½ stars out of 4; drops Feb. 6.
“Bring Them Down”: An unremitting grimness clings to every frame of Christopher Andrews’ gritty feature film debut, an Ireland-set story that grabs you from the start. Long-simmering resentments between two West Ireland ranching families boil over after a savage storm leaves in its wake a swath of destruction that further rubs raw frayed relationships. It causes Michael’s (Christopher Abbott) already short fuse — worn to the nubbies since he’s the ex-boyfriend of neighboring rancher’s wife Caroline (Nora-Jane Noone) who left him after a terrible car accident that scarred her face — to explode when two prized rams belonging to him and his father (Colm Meaney) appear to go missing. From there, the violence piles up and draw us into a timeless tale about Caroline’s confrontational but dim and conflicted son Jack (Barry Keoghan). Andrews tells the first half of the film from Michael’s perspective and later switches to Jack’s, a smart decision that helps develop both characters and affords two of our best actors a ripe chance to add more texture to heir intense roles. Each actor conveys reams of dialogue through a mere glance or even a character’s raised-shoulders walk. “Bring Them Down” tells a familiar tragic tale, but it’s executed so well and performed with such awareness and vigor you won’t care. Details: 3 stars; in theaters Feb. 7.
“You’re Cordially Invited”: Reese Witherspoon’s perfect rom-com-queen performance is the best reason to watch Nicholas Stoller’s decent genre entry that works some of the time and flounders at others when it falls prey to a number of terrible ideas (an alligator tussling in the bed with co-star Will Ferrell being one ). The setup is as see-through as a wedding veil. Farrell is Jim, a single dad who’s overly involved in his daughter’s life. Margot (Witherspoon) is a single and overly stressed-out reality TV producer. They book the same small romantic Georgia island venue for two upcoming nuptials, one for Jim’s daughter Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan) and the other for Margot’s sister Neve (Meredith Hagner). The mix-up leads to a face-off and then a pact to share the venue with the assurance that the “I do’s” occur at sunset for both. What could go wrong with that? Stoller, who also wrote the screenplay and has given us some strong rom-coms (“Bros,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), highlights the squabbling and engaging characters, including the two grooms (Neve’s stripper fiance Dixon, played by Jimmy Tatro and Jenni’s rapping guy Oliver, played by the likable Stony Blyden) and Jenni’s partying but protective bridal party. All clash and scream at each other, but it’s really in the family dynamics that “You’re Cordially Invited” thrives. Margot’s brood in particular — including her critical and pessimistic mom (Celia Weston) and horny aunt (Leanne Morgan) — get their time to shine. Trouble is, “Invited” lacks chemistry between its leads and wastes a weird cameo with Nick Jonas (it falls flat) and the comedic talents of Fortune Feimster, who deserves more screen time. It’s not a match made in heaven. Details: 2 stars; available now on Amazon Prime.
“The Recruit Season 2”: An improved second season patches up a few rough edges in Netflix’s enjoyable spy romp, and does so by repositioning its jocular, off-the-cuff spirit in mostly a new setting, South Korea. The venue change makes the show almost as appealing and charming as its lead — Noah Centineo. Factor in Teo Yoo, the “Past Lives” actor who broke hearts in Celine Song’s bittersweet romance, as a new character — desperate South Korean intelligence office worker Jang Kyun, who lures the U.S. to help retrieve his kidnapped wife from Russia — and the six-episode sophomore season of creator Alexi Hawley’s sophomore season turns out more muscular and leaner than Season 1. There’s the good news. The bad is that in its last episode it goes off the rails and forgets credibility, a disappointment that pulls the plug on any suspense as outlandish events pile up on each other.
Till then, the always-in-hot-water antics of CIA attorney/reluctant spy Owen Hendricks (Centineo) keep us engaged and curious over how the troublemaking rascal is going to get out of another mess he’s made. Noah teams up with officemate Janus Ferber (Kristian Bruun) for a biz trip to South Korea where Owen meets up with a childhood friend (Shin Do-hyun) while his ex Hannah (Fivel Stewart) becomes involved with a rich tech guy (Omar Maskati). The supporting cast of characters get even more developed in this brisk season that you’ll want to finish in one weekend. Details: 2½ stars; now available on Netflix.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.