Becky’s Best: Documentaries

By Rebecca Parr on April 20, 2022

Despite the prolonged pandemic, volatile economic environment, and yes, “The Slap”, people I know are still honed-in to watch episodes of dramas that focus on real-life situations.

The popularity of documentaries has risen on all media platforms in the past year. I want to share a few I think are worth mentioning. These captured my full attention and had me questioning—who would I believe? Each of these will put you in

someone else’s shoes, even if for only eight episodes or more.

1. Inventing Anna – On Netflix. The drama stars Julia Garner (Ozark fans will remember her as Ruth) and was created by Shonda Rhimes (showrunner for Greys Anatomy, Scandal, etc.). Based on the true story of Anna Sorokin’s venture from Russia to New York, she captured the hearts and money of the city’s elite social members and financial institutions as Anna Delvey. The manipulation and deceit are paramount to the show and asks the viewer, would you have befriended her? She makes becoming rich look easy. Staying that way? Much harder.

2. Tinder Swindler – On Netflix. Shimon Hayut is from Israel. He used dating apps to endear himself to several women, luring them into a false life of luxury. He used them to open loans and lines of credit in their names ultimately leaving them holding an empty bag and nowhere to turn. Using the pseudonym, Simon Leviev he attaches his persona to a diamond magnate, Lev Leviev and utilizes their information as his own family to parade around to new girlfriends. Eventually he convinces these women he is being sought out by “enemies” and needs financial help, faking several scenarios until they acquiesce and send him funds. You wonder if in love, would you have fallen for the charm, the smile, and been manipulated too?

3. The Thing about Pam – On Peacock. Stars Renee Zellweger. The story is about the Missouri murder of Betsy Faria in 2011. Zellweger plays her best friend, Pam Hupp, who was not charged with the murder until 2021. The dialogue and character she delivered had me thinking she is a true nut case. The part she plays in swaying a jury of several things; that Betsy’s husband murdered her, she was Betsy’s lover and becomes the beneficiary of Betsy’s life insurance policy will keep you asking, “What’s next?”. I keep hearing her annoying voice and slurpy sodas as she tries to befriend law enforcement and attorneys alike. Was it a mockery or a mystery? I just know it was good TV.

4. The Dropout – On Hulu. Amanda Seyfried becomes Elizabeth Holmes in her look, voice, and demeanor. She tells a tale of duped investors who fell for the ambitious fraudster’s claim that her biotech company, Theranos, could perform over 200 tests on single droplet of blood. The documentary timelines her interest in starting her own company as a young child, scared of needles, to a Stanford University college dropout in 2004 to becoming a self-made billionaire in 2014. Watching it made me want to get rid of all my black turtlenecks.

5. Dirty John/Dirty Betty– On Netflix. This is a twofer. I liked both, a lot. The first, Dirty John stars Connie Britton and Eric Bana as leads. Based on the same premise as Tinder Swindler where love is blind and takes all. Story revisits how John Meehan preyed on Debra Newell and her family in 2014. He was cunning, abusive and a hustler. His evil and terrorizing persona comes too late for Debra. She drank the Kool-Aid, and it’s more than two years before their twisted story ends. Dirty Betty recounts the harrowing story of Betty Broderick, who killed her ex-husband Dan in 1989. Played by Amanda Peet, her devastation of him leaving her for his assistant began her spiral into a jealous psychosis. Bitter and angry, she battled him for six years before her last trigger was a physical one. I wasn’t sure how I felt. Did I find myself seeing their point of view, or just feel Dirty?

Let me know which one you liked best!

Becky