Following the massive public fascination with the true-crime documentary You Can See Everything, audiences seeking similar stories of high-stakes deception are turning to a curated lineup of streaming films and television series exploring corporate fraud, elaborate cons, and corporate manipulation.
- Explore corporate downfalls through structured mini-series like Hulu’s The Dropout and Netflix’s WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn.
- Examine systemic exploitation and legal scams via projects such as Netflix’s I Care A Lot and Hulu’s Dopesick.
- Investigate unreliable narrators and high-society grifts with Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told and Netflix’s Inventing Anna.
The Hulu mini-series The Dropout dramatizes the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her blood-testing startup Theranos across eight episodes. Starring Amanda Seyfried, the production details the internal behaviors and corporate environment that led to the multi-million-dollar fraud.
Parallel corporate implosions populate the streaming landscape, notably through Netflix’s documentary WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn. Both projects investigate founders who lured investors and employees into unstable business models supported by false premises and intense media hype.
The 2017 Fyre Festival failure is examined in Netflix’s Fyre Festival: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, highlighting how organizers manipulated attendees into paying steep prices for an unorganized event. Similarly, Netflix’s Inventing Anna details Anna Sorkin’s impersonation of a German heiress to swindle New York’s elite.
Fraud. Fugitives follows celebrity restaurateur Sarma Melngailis as her New York restaurant empire disintegrates following a manipulative relationship with a financial partner.
| Title | Subject Matter | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| The Dropout | Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes | Hulu |
| Inventing Anna | Anna Sorkin’s New York Grift | Netflix |
| Bad Vegan | Sarma Melngailis Restaurant Scandal | Netflix |
| WeWork | Corporate Startup Inflation | Hulu / Disney+ |
Fictional and documentary explorations of legal exploitation include Netflix’s thriller I Care A Lot, which follows a professional guardian who manipulates the legal system to plunder the assets of elderly wards. Meanwhile, Hulu’s scripted drama Dopesick details the corporate deception within the pharmaceutical industry that fueled the opioid crisis.
Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told, starring Octavia Spencer and Gabrielle Union, examines unreliable narrators and overlooked evidence within true-crime podcasting. Comedian Laci Mosley hosts Hulu and Freeform’s Scam Goddess, reviewing historical and contemporary grifts ranging from Ponzi schemes to fake royalty.
Feature films addressing financial ambition include Hustlers on Hulu, which stars Jennifer Lopez and Keke Palmer as New York City dancers orchestrating a scheme against Wall Street clients. Paramount+ and Prime Video host Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, documenting the excesses and fraudulent stock practices of Jordan Belfort.
Hulu’s crime drama series Snowfall explores the structural forces and institutional decisions behind the crack cocaine epidemic, drawing parallels to systemic corruption. Additionally, Netflix’s The Girl From Plainville, starring Elle Fanning as Michelle Carter, investigates the legal accountability and digital communication preceding a tragic suicide.
