Category: Documentaries

Documentary: The Tinder Swindler

The story of con artist Simon Leviev

A brand-new con exists, one that preys on those looking for love online: romance scams. Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler details the story of Simon Leviev, who conned women he dated—and others—out of millions of dollars to support his lavish lifestyle. He met women on the dating app Tinder, and at first, seemed like the perfect rich boyfriend, showering them with fancy dinners, expensive hotels, and flights on private jets. And by pretending to be rich, he laid the foundation for the lies that convinced girlfriends, friends, and others to give him money, lies about enemies out to get him and needing to avoid using his own bank accounts and credit cards.

Leviev was eventually exposed for his dirty deeds by some of the women he cheated, and they worked with a Norwegian newspaper, VG, to reveal his fraudulent activities and warn the world about him.

The Tinder Swindler is a warning about online dating, believing what you see online, and trusting someone who is too good to be true. Who is so bad, in fact, that you might lose your life savings over them.

Documentary: Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.

A vegan restaurateur gets scammed by a practiced con artist

Stories like the one in Bad Vegan are almost unbelievable, that one person could fall for so many lies and end up in the trap of scammer only interested in draining them of all of their money. Somehow the charisma and storytelling abilities of such a con artist can exceed all logic and rationality and even the most intelligent person can fall prey.

In Bad Vegan, vegan restaurateur Sarma Melngailis was the target. Melngailis met Shane Fox on social media, who claimed to be involved in black ops and covert activities, and they began a friendship, then a relationship. They met in person, and he made grand promises: to wipe out her restaurant debt, to make her dog immortal, to make her the queen of some secret society. If only she’d send him money. To prove herself. Which she did, many times.

The story isn’t so much about her veganism—that is only a small part—but how Fox, whose real name is Anthony Strangis, manipulated, brainwashed, and conned Melngailis out of $1.7 million, as well as scamming her mother, her investors, and causing her vegan restaurant business to go under.

Melngailis is the main interviewee for this four-part Netflix documentary, along with former employees from her restaurant, a reporter, and her family members. Strangis, while not interviewed directly for the film, appears in conversations she secretly recorded after the scam.

It’s a cautionary tale, and if you think you’d be immune to a con like this, pay close attention. It could happen to anyone.

Documentary: Don’t Pick Up the Phone

The story of a calculated hoax and manipulation related to strip searches across the US

Something strange was happening at fast food places. A strange sort of crime, one that its perpetrator deviously constructed. In small towns across the US between 1994 and 2004, at McDonald’s and Taco Bell and other fast food restaurants, a crime occurred and was barely investigated. Managers received phone calls from a man claiming to be a local police officer. They were told that someone reported a purse or wallet stolen by a young woman who worked there, and that the manager needed to strip search this employee to find out. The employee was not named—only described—so the manager found an employee who fit that description and proceeded to followed the caller’s every command.

Seem unbelievable? It happened at least 70 times, until it was finally investigated fully in 2004. Netflix’s Don’t Pick Up the Phone documents the story through three episodes. The detectives who took up the cause in 2004 recount how they found the hoaxer, victims tell their stories, and trials for the managers and hoaxer are described.

You will find yourself asking how this could happen and how it went on so long. You will find yourself wondering how people could be manipulated so easily. And you will find yourself hoping for repercussions against the hoaxer. It’s a chilling story, with chilling revelations about the psychology of humans.

Documentary: Anatomy of Lies

The story of Grey’s Anatomy writer Elisabeth Finch

It started with a cancer diagnosis. A purported tragedy that was really a lie. Then came more lies, which multiplied and seemed to take on a life of their own, branching out like a gnarled and diseased tree that fed on whatever was around it. You may have heard of pathological liars, or may even know one, but this story reveals the why and how behind one such person’s machinations.

Anatomy of Lies is the story of TV writer Elisabeth Finch, a story that is as shocking as any murder case, and with deeds as pathological as a serial killer. The documentary will lead you through the web of lies told by Finch, who wrote for Grey’s Anatomy and pilfered the lives of those around her for episodes, constructed fake, tragic stories about her own life to garner attention and sympathy, and seemed unable to stop, until one fateful day when her teetering world of lies came crashing down.

Told through three episodes, the Peacock documentary features many clips from Finch’s podcast interviews and magazine articles about her so-called tragedies, interviews with fellow writers from Grey’s Anatomy, and interviews with her former wife and children. (Finch herself does not appear in the documentary.)

Made more interesting because of her status as a writer and co-executive producer on the TV drama, Anatomy of Lies will keep you engaged to the very end.

Documentary: TikTok Star Murders

A heartbreaking story of murder, told through social media

They’re everywhere on social media. Those videos of the perfect vacation, perfect family, perfect marriage. But reality hides behind the perfection, sometimes a dark reality covered up by posed photos and curated videos. Peacock’s new documentary TikTok Star Murders illustrates the imperfections hidden by viral social media videos and how a life can turn to darkness.

The documentary tells the story of the murder of Ana Abulaban by her husband Ali, as well as Ali’s murder of Ana’s friend Rayburn Barron. It documents Ali’s rise to fame on TikTok, the breakdown of his and Ana’s marriage—one filled with physical and emotional abuse and coercive control—culminating in the murders of Ana and Ray.

The film presents an intimate look at the shocking case and Ali and Ana’s troubled relationship, shown through many TikTok videos and photos from both Ali and Ana. To tell the story, Ana and Ali’s friends and family members are joined by reporters, investigators, attorneys, and a psychologist describing what happens in an abusive relationship and why it is so difficult for many victims to leave, and leave safely. Along with TikTok videos, the documentary includes video and audio recordings Ali made as the relationship broke down, the abuse Ana suffered, and even Ali’s audio of the murder itself, as well as interview excerpts with him in jail and clips from his trial.

It’s a horrifying depiction of domestic abuse, the fantasy of social media, the masks people wear, and how the pursuit of fame can drive a person’s life.