‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ Netflix Series Review - Incredibly Enjoyable

In Apple Cider Vinegar, Kaitlyn Dever gives what's usually called a star-making performance. As a social media influencer/wellness guru named Belle Gibson, she is almost always on edge, like a drug addict constantly looking for drugs. Her "fix," it turns out, is getting positive reactions. Like or send love emojis on her posts, and she will instantly become the happiest person on Earth. You can also type comments like, "Belle Gibson is great" or "Congratulations." Belle is so hungry for love and attention that she sells fake stories about her cancer to her followers. At first, she tried to sell baby products on the Internet. When that business failed to generate both profit and customers, she moved on to the whole cancer thing because people desperately seek simple solutions for their health. No one enjoys chemotherapy (the worst kind of therapy), so if you tell a cancer patient that some juice or a pill will solve their problem, they will obviously prioritize that juice, that pill, over intense treatments. Who wants to listen to all those doctors? Take my money and inject me with your organic hokum. What does Belle offer? A range of "healthy dishes" that can cure various types of cancer. Also, getting likes (for the posts) and sympathy (for yourself) from people is easy if you present yourself as a survivor. Belle wants money, Belle wants friends, and Belle gets all the love from her followers thanks to her faux "I have beaten the cancer" image.

Written by Samantha Strauss, Anya Beyersdorf, and Angela Betzien, Apple Cider Vinegar clearly (and rightly) hates Belle Gibson. This is quite evident in Dever's performance. The actor displays Belle as a woman who is always "acting" in front of everyone. When Dever's Belle cries, her face twitches, and her nostrils flare so loudly that it feels as if she wants everybody to notice that she is in pain. Her public speeches are stiff and rehearsed, and her smile comes across as a pose for Instagram. In one scene, Belle expresses an honest sentiment ("She was lucky to have been loved," she says about a dead character), but even that is undermined by a sense of affectedness. Characters break the fourth wall to deliver a disclaimer and add that Belle Gibson wasn't paid for this Netflix adaptation. This is just Apple Cider Vinegar's way of proving that it has no interest in glorifying Belle. According to the show, Belle was a genius at recognizing the potential of the Internet, and at the same time, she was dumb enough to trust a quack doctor who sold her an organ DNA fixing machine or something for $10,000.

Dever is front and center for the most part in Apple Cider Vinegar. Given the character she plays and the kind of performance she delivers, she threatens to overshadow her co-actors. The "loudness" may distract you from noticing the work of an actor like Susie Porter, who, as Tamara, breaks your heart with those sad eyes that shower her daughter, Milla (Alycia Debnam-Carey), with so much affection that she willingly walks on the path of destruction. Milla is one of those patients who quickly turn to alternative treatments to avoid the pain of a scientific procedure. She, in other words, is the perfect candidate who can become Belle's follower. However, it's Milla who actually " influences" Belle to become a "cancer patient." Milla embraces another fake wellness guru who puts her on a juice treatment, which, of course, doesn't improve her physical condition. Milla gets aggressive tumors on her left hand, though they strangely don't seem to be inconvenient. She goes on making deals and performing her daily routines without any irritation. We see her most uncomfortable (health-wise) for two seconds when she merely scratches her hand while feeling jealous about Belle's success. According to Milla, she is simply horrified by Belle's fabrications. At least, this is what she tells her best friend, Chanelle (Aisha Dee).

Chanelle introduces herself as the hero of Apple Cider Vinegar. She works with both Milla and Belle. After spending a lot of time with the latter, she not only becomes a skeptic but also grows fed up with all the lies. Almost every character who comes in contact with Belle eventually starts hating her with passion. Clive (Ashley Zukerman) isn't a fan of Belle's behavior, yet he continues staying with and supporting her. Why? This 40-ish-year-old man probably thinks he won't be able to woo any other woman (he is one of those nerdy IT guys). Or maybe he cares too much about Belle's son and fears that the little guy will experience too much emotional trauma without the presence of a father figure (the mother is a wreck - she's too busy handling her business). Then there is Justin (Mark Coles Smith), an investigative journalist who makes it his life's mission to expose Belle. His reasons are personal: His wife, Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), is a fan of Belle. She listens to the influencer's advice and stops going to the hospital. Lucy checks in to a wellness retreat in a jungle, and, like Milla, we never see her in torment.

Perhaps the writers must have thought that a cancer patient's suffering has been depicted on the screen many times. Hence, they don't go for "cheap shots" to trigger the audience. They do, however, effectively show you the consequence of listening to unqualified influencers. A character dies, and a family suffers vicious attacks. Director Jeffrey Walker conjures a frenzied pace that makes you feel as if someone has injected caffeine into your blood. Apple Cider Vinegar maintains suspense and keeps things interesting by first showing a scene from one angle and later revealing it from a different angle. A happy moment doesn't look cheery when we receive the whole picture. Even casual remarks, like the one involving changing bedsheets, get a dramatic layer. It feels as if the series is first putting forward an Instagram image and then taking us behind the frame to reveal the circumstances under which it was captured. Apple Cider Vinegar bounces back and forth with so much energy that it appears volatile. The six long episodes, however, do undercut many potent emotions - Apple Cider Vinegar, like many Netflix shows, leaves the audience tired. Also, that comment fight in Episode 6 looks stupid here. It belongs to a third-rate production. Why does Milla push her mother for the juice treatment? I wish the show had offered a more solid reason. Still, I don't think these issues are dealbreakers. Apple Cider Vinegar is incredibly enjoyable, and that's something you can't say about most Netflix productions.

Final Score- [8/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times