Told in a disjointed time-skipping manner, with fourth wall breaks, Apple Cider Vinegar is a lot of fun, akin to watching a reality show—drenched in drama and bringing out a “couldn’t be me” in viewers.
Apple Cider Vinegar is a limited series that cranks up the obsession with social media validation. “Based on a true story that’s a lie,” as it will often say at the start of episodes, the series is entertaining, inspiring, frustrating, yelling at the screen riveting, and shocks galore. It’s a fictionalized story with some truth about health guru Belle Gibson, a mom who rose to popularity for her meal app but also because she was a cancer survivor.
It charts her rise and fall when reporters and fans discover she lied about her cancer. Told in a disjointed time-skipping manner, with fourth wall breaks, Apple Cider Vinegar is a lot of fun, akin to watching a reality show—drenched in drama and bringing out a “couldn’t be me” in viewers.
Created by Samantha Strauss (The End, Dance Academy), the miniseries leans into larger-than-life shots, color, and dramatizations to convey the competitive world of a social health guru who scoffs at medical practitioners. It begins with Belle, played by Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart, No One Will Save You), at her peak before the fall. She’s giving a speech, her book is about to come out, and her app, The Whole Pantry, is with Apple. Things look bright indeed. However, it’s unraveling even amidst the glam and cheers of awards. The miniseries takes viewers on a disjointed, dramatic journey.
Apple Cider Vinegar Shows the Danger of Social Media While Leaning Into Dramatics
So many of the scenes ramp up, exaggerating the scenes. But it’s hilarious and impossible to ignore. Because, like many scams, many wonder how Belle Gibson got so far on a colossal lie. Still, the first episode includes Belle’s fourth wall to inform viewers that Belle received no money for the miniseries, the emojis, and the dance bit to Britney Spears’s “Toxic,” it’s clear the show is more to entertain while telling some truths, and it achieves it. Is it over the top at times? Yes. But Apple Cider Vinegar ensures audiences cannot look away.
The Trust Train
Still, it’s not only Belle’s lie. But those who propped her up. Even knowing the truth, they helped her grow. Furthermore, those small lies can snowball. Such as claiming one can tell when a person has cancer or has done chemotherapy. If people trust they’re judgment, they believe it. So, others spreading it gave her credibility as well. Most of the time, people build truth based on trust. They trust this person, and that person trusts another.
It’s as though the further we get from childhood, the more we resist questioning anything. Plus, everyone wants to believe an inspiring story of strife and overcoming. The fact she’s a white woman didn’t hurt either. No matter the lies, be it Elizabeth Holmes, Rachel Dolezal, etc., the length of time they’re able to trick people is shocking.
The Apple Cider Vinegar Cast Makes This a Wreck Worth Watching
Kaitlyn Dever does an outstanding job because you want to throttle Belle almost whenever she opens her mouth. Kaitlyn captures the penchant for white women tears, that make viewers want to shriek in rage. It’s magnificent, and audiences never know if Belle believes her lies. Kaitlyn’s performance leaves it open. Belle’s partner, Clive, played by Ashley Zukerman (Fear Street: Part One – 1994, Fear Street: Part Two – 1978), is the perfect counter to her dramatics with Zukerman’s calm performance within the maelstrom.
Alycia Debnam-Carey (It’s What’s Inside, Fear the Walking Dead) plays Milla, another wellness influencer with cancer that Belle is a fan of and competing against. Although she does have cancer, she falls for a lie of a miracle treatment with coffee enemas (you heard that right) and then peddles the lie. Alycia portrays sorrow and fear well and sniffs out Belle’s lies quickly.
Aisha Dee (Look Both Ways) plays Milla’s friend, Chanelle, who later works for Belle. Aisha Dee is fantastic and played another film with lots of social media hijinks amidst its slasher comedy, Sissy. She does a brilliant job, constantly outshining everyone when she’s onscreen with presence alone. Unfortunately, there’s no more of her in the series.
Lastly is Lucy, played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey (Young Woman and the Sea, Hotel Mumbai), a woman battling cancer who’s a fan of Belle. She is an example of that cult-like mentality as she wholeheartedly believes Belle’s lies even though her journalist boyfriend, Justin, played by Mark Coles Smith (We Bury the Dead, Kid Snow), cautions her. Both exude affection and stress as their plans for a future shift with Lucy’s diagnosis.
Such a Wild Ride
Apple Cider Vinegar is quirky, odd, dramatic, funny, tragic, and more steeped in melodrama, but that’s social media for you. There’s no clear timeline. Yet somehow, it never feels confusing, leaving viewers lost. It shows the varying degrees of culpability, including the medical industry, that too often feels sterile, unfeeling, or even downright manipulative.
All of it ushers in the possibility for people to fall victim to scams, be it a diet pill craze or the latest in beauty care. But in Apple Cider Vinegar, the stakes are far greater because people can die without proper treatment. As a whole, Apple Cider Vinegar is a series you watch for entertainment rather than facts, and it does not disappoint in that area, filled with fantastic performances, soap opera clownery, and reality-show shocks.
