I’m not sure what it is about this spring, but it seems like that most compelling entertainment out right now. From Inventing Anna and Tinder Swindler both on Netflix – these stories seem almost too strange to actually be reality. And now, Hulu is bringing another true-to-life scam to the big screen with their new limited series The Drop Out.
The Drop Out follows the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the creator, and CEO of Theranos, a medical tech that was taking the media and medical world by storm. But behind it with a bunch of lies, deception, and a lot of parts of the series that will make you question – how did this go on for long?
With Amanda Seyfried as the lead and taking on the role of Elizabeth Holmes, she makes the character almost likable. She plays the character from teenage and college years into the creation of the company and even some of the fall of Theranos. This story, unlike many others we have been seeing portrayed through other true crime scam series covers several years, and shows just how deep this lie went. Seyfried portrays Holmes as a girl who knew what she was doing but maybe not the actual consequences of giving incorrect medical diagnoses. She gives Holmes a naivety and disconnect from normal social norms, which makes her easier to manipulate or be pointed in one direction by Sunny – a much older man she is romantically involved with who later helps control her company.
The Drop Out has eight episodes that take viewers through Holmes’s life through college, her idea for a medical device that doesn’t require large amounts of blood to give a diagnosis, creation (or lack thereof), and the eventual downfall of Theranos. Due to the dry material – let’s face it, medical tech isn’t as scandalous as some would have you believe – the show does seem to drag in points. But overall it is entertaining and will bring you back wanting more.
It does seem that The Drop Out is almost too weird to be real, but what was reported in the news didn’t cover the depth of how far and long this scam was happening. So what do you remember about the Theranos scandal and what actually happened? The Drop Out will pull you in with more detail and information on what actually happened (with some creative license possibly?) and overall it makes for an engaging series that will make you wonder what else we’ve been lied to about.
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About The Dropout:
Money. Romance. Tragedy. Deception. Hulu’s 8-episode limited series “The Dropout,” the story of Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) and Theranos, is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?
