For decades, people have been obsessed with true crime. It wasn’t always called true crime, but it came to us in the forms of Dateline and 20/20. In recent years, it morphed into podcasts and documentaries. However, in the past month three television shows - more specifically limited series - have focused on the real life crimes committed by three different women. Netflix has Anna Sorokin’s story in Inventing Anna. Hulu has Elizabeth Holmes’ story in The Dropout. And the upcoming limited series coming to NBC, The Thing About Pam which focuses on Pam Hupp.
Inventing Anna
Where to begin? Anna Sorokin (Delvy) came to New York City and convinced the city’s elite that she was a German heiress who had studied in Russian, which explained her unusual accent. Sorokin’s goal was to build an art house that would also work as a luxury resort for the upper class. Sorokin convinced loan officers and friends to give her money to either help fund her big venture or pay for her extravagant life. The limited series on Netflix, which was created by Shonda Rhimes, follows Sorokin’s eventual downfall from New York City’s next it-girl to an inmate at Rikers Island. Most of the things that happen in the show are accurate, for example, the journalist covering Sorokin’s life in NYC and arrest had a reputation after being accused of forcing a subject to falsify information for an article making Sorokin’s story a big deal for her reputation. The show captures both the more comedic aspects of Sorokin’s frank behavior and the more intense moments that reportedly happened to Sorokin and her friends.
The Dropout
Elizabeth Holmes was geared to become the next Steve Jobs of medical technology. Holmes had created a blood testing device that only required a finger prick as opposed to blood being drawn from a person’s body. She had convinced investors to back her company and her invention and soon became the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaires. Until everything she worked for came grinding to a halt when she was accused of defrauding her investors and her patients. The Dropout chronicles Elizabeth Holmes rise and fall from entrepreneurial success. Including her time at Stanford before she dropped out (hence the title). Amanda Seyfried plays the founder and CEO of Theranos to perfection in this new limited series on Hulu.
The Thing About Pam
The two-time Oscar winning actress, Renée Zellweger plays Pam Hupp before her arrest for two counts of murder, but more specifically for the murder of her best friend, Betsy Faria. The series is based on a Dateline podcast episode following Hupp’s crime. Faria was dying of cancer days before she was found dead with fifty-five stab wounds and a broken neck by her husband, Russ Faria. Russ became the prime suspect of his wife’s murder after Hupp told police how abusive Russ was toward Betsy leading up to her death. However, this was all revealed to be a web of fabricated lies to cover up a more heinous crime and motive. The limited series will be found on NBC.
BONUS: The Girl from Plainville
A new true crime related limited series coming to Hulu relating to death revolves around the suicide of Conrad Roy III and the involvement of his girlfriend, Michelle Carter. Days after Roy’s death, police found incriminating text messaging evidence that suggested that Carter had goaded Roy into performing the act. The upcoming limited series will follow the aftermath of Roy’s suicide and Carter’s involvement.
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