“Inventing Anna” is a whirlwind. The epitome of madness. It makes one mad. It questions, “Is she mad?” The whole experience is surrounded in chaos. Two weeks ago I found myself with a three-hour flight ahead of me, and “Inventing Anna” found me, staring out of its rectangular promo image on a Netflix screen. I’d heard some of the buzz surrounding the show, but I had no clue what I was in for.
My best summary of “Inventing Anna” is that it is a moral who dunnit. Even till the very end, I couldn’t figure out if I liked Anna. I couldn’t ascertain who the “good” characters were– who I should be rooting for. I’ll try to make this article spoiler-free, which is honestly helpful because the show is nearly impossible to explain. Netflix teases “Inventing Anna” with the blurb, “Audacious entrepreneur or con artist? A journalist chases down the story of Anna Delvey, who convinced New York's elite she was a German heiress.” Enticing, right?
Throughout the series one is drawn into a certain character’s story each episode. Each character has a different side of the narrative, and the constant playing with the viewer’s emotions is tiring. While Anna holds a complex story, the recounts of the people she interacted with flip the story back and forth in a dizzying fashion.
It was maddening to figure out how it ended. In the last 20 minutes, I still had no idea how the show would resolve. We watch Anna at her origin in NYC and follow her downfall. With every episode she gets closer and closer to being caught, but the strangest part throughout the whole show is her denial in faking her persona. It would be interesting to watch even if Anna recognized she was conning everyone, but we see Anna truly believe she is a businesswoman.
Along with the theme of her building a business, Anna blames a lot of her issues and forms much of her manipulations on the basis of sexism. I find myself absorbed in her rationale for everyone underestimating her, but then remember who I’m dealing with. It’s exhausting, but sometimes the most joy arises from a challenge. Don’t let the madness deter you.
I hope you enjoyed my elevator pitch for why “Inventing Anna,” with all of its madness, should be your next binge!
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