A brutally honest review of Apple Cider Vinegar, Netflix's new Belle Gibson series.

Apple Cider Vinegar hits you over the head with its mission statement in the opening scene.

Actress Kaitlyn Dever, playing a defiant Belle Gibson, stares directly into the camera and clarifies that this is a true story based on a lie and that the real Belle Gibson received no money from the project.

"F**kers," she adds in at the end.

The new Netflix series, which was filmed in Australia, is based on the infamous story of Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who built an extensive online following (predominately through Instagram) after claiming that she had been diagnosed with a series of life-threatening medical issues, including brain cancer. Gibson claimed to have cured her terminal cancer through wellness practices like diet and exercise, and used this story to amass an extensive online following. Her success brought about new opportunities, and soon, she had published a successful book, and had her name attached to a popular wellness app. Her financial success all hinged on the idea that people could cure their own illnesses by following her magical advice.

Listen to The Quicky discuss Apple Cider Vinegar. Post continues below.

Thanks to an investigation published by The Age, which was began after Chanelle McAuliffe (played by Aisha Dee) — a close friend of Gibson's at the time — discovered her deception. Soon, the truth was uncovered: Gibson had never been diagnosed with cancer. Furthermore, a substantial amount of the money she had claimed to be raising for charity had never actually been donated.

The story of Belle Gibson is one that Australians, in particular, have devoured furiously over the years. It's a story of a beautiful blonde woman who millions of people fell in love, only to be caught spinning an extensive web of global deceit.

Still, Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar takes Gibson's story and broadens it out, and the result is a series that will captivate you in a whole new way, ensuring you'll want to devour all six episodes in one sitting.

The series is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World, written by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, and begins with a young Belle Gibson (wonderfully played by Booksmart's Dever, who has perfected her Australian accent) giving birth to her son while attempting to start an online business selling baby products. While many elements of the series are fictionalised and some names have been changed, the show does stick quite closely to Gibson's real-life story.

Take a look at the trailer for Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix. Article continues below.

The series flashes back and forth from her early days as a young mother who first starts seeding the lie about her cancer to the people in her life, to an internationally disgraced wealthy woman seeking crisis management in LA after her secret has been revealed.

The most compelling element of Apple Cider Vinegar is how it shapes this fictionalised version of Belle Gibson. There are scenes that chronicle her loneliness and despair, showing how people turn away from her when she is in need, and highlighting how she grew up without the care of loving parents.

It's this context that helps the viewer understand how — after telling those early lies about her health — Belle becomes addicted to the feeling of support she receives from strangers online. It makes her seem less like a supervillain as she begins to spread the lie, but as the series progresses, the audience can track exactly how her powers of manipulation grow, as she evolved into a skillful liar who takes the whole Girl Boss trope a little too far.

While the majority of the series is hooked on Gibson's personal story, Apple Cider Vinegar also delves into the earliest days of Instagram and the way wellness influencers shaped their brands through it.

Intertwined with Belle's story is the story of Milla Blake (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey), a young woman working her dream job at Girlfriend magazine when she is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. Opting not to follow medical advice, Milla attempts to heal herself through natural remedies and builds an extensive audience on Instagram, landing herself a series of opulent speaking gigs and a book deal.

Belle and Milla's stories intersect throughout the series, with Belle idolising Milla at first, and then being rebuffed by her. Eventually, we see Milla attempt to take Belle down after discovering her lie.

Chanelle McAuliffe was the whistleblower who confronted Belle Gibson, listen to her interview on True Crime Conversations. Story continues below. 

There's a whole lot happening in every episode of Apple Cider Vinegar, so I'd recommend not doubling screening and looking down at your phone, lest you miss another lie or shift in allegiances.

The story whips between the people who are wrapped up in Belle's lies and life, the cancer patients who fall for her promises, the journalists working to uncover her real story, and of course, Milla and her family as she builds an empire while taking part in a series of quite confronting 'wellness' practices.

At times, the series can become a little convoluted with the number of stories it tries to tell, but overall, it's a fascinating deep dive into the life of an elusive woman, set to a banging soundtrack with an incredible cast.

Along with being endlessly entertaining, it will remind you, even all these years later, just how much of the online world is really a lie.

Apple Cider Vinegar is streaming on Netflix from Thursday, February 6.

Laura Brodnik is Mamamia's Head of Entertainment and host of The Spill podcast. You can follow her on Instagram here for more entertainment news and recommendations.

Featured Image: Netflix.