Inventing Anna (2022) s01e08 Episode Script
Too Rich for Her Blood
1
[baby cooing.]
Beautiful.
[baby cooing.]
It's late.
It's great.
[Vivian.]
It's late.
[scoffs.]
I'm sorry.
Is this like a post-partum thing? I want to comfort you, but I read I'm supposed to respect - Comfort me.
- Okay, you wrote a great article.
You wrote it while pregnant.
And now, we've got a new girl to obsess over.
Right? Right.
["Wow (Look At Me)" playing.]
Don't play it safe, I don't hesitate Don't hold me back, Imma handle it This ain't a match, we so different I run the spot, you just kickin it Most of the shots that you shoot And you miss All of the shots I be gettin it in Look at me now and look at my grin The fake heiress allegedly scammed her way through thousands of dollars in gourmet meals, luxury hotel rooms and private jet flights.
Sources say she also conned Manhattans' glitterati leaving egg on the faces of society's biggest players from the art world, real estate, fashion and Wall Street.
Hey, guys.
Okay, you discussed her at brunch, you put her outfits on your Pinterest.
Those Celine glasses Anyway, today we are dream-casting the Anna Delvey story.
Okay, I am obsessed with this story and can I just Okay, the "futurist boyfriend"? Michael Cera, am I right? Michael Cera? What the fuck? I'll tell you this much, she wouldn't fool me, or my friends.
[chuckling.]
And why is that? Easy.
The hair.
The girl needs to invest in a deep conditioner.
That's my girl.
That's my girl! That's my girl! That's my girl! [laughs.]
[chuckles.]
Sorokin! I love your eyeshadow.
No.
You can go in.
The rest of y'all, sit down.
[buzzer sounds.]
I am famous.
[opening theme music playing.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[Anna.]
Oh.
[chuckles.]
Wow.
[sniffs.]
[buzzer sounds.]
Hmm.
[clears throat.]
Okay, so You want compliments? [chuckling.]
No, I just No, you did a good job, it's just It's - What? - [chuckles.]
I guess I thought you were, like, a real journalist.
I put hundreds of hours into this article.
Months of interviews, research, fact-checking.
If the people around me had done their jobs, the loans would have been approved, my trust would have come through and I'd be sitting on Park Avenue instead of here with you.
That's a fact.
I'm a serious person and you make me sound like I made everything up.
Like I'm some liar.
- That's because you lied.
- [scoffs.]
There's no trust fund.
There never was.
Your dad's not some solar magnate.
KNS Trucking and Cooling, that's your dad's business.
Legal did research for the article.
We confirmed it.
There's no inheritance.
No fortune, no art collection, nothing.
Trucking and Cooling, is that what he's calling it these days? Anna, let it go.
Look around you.
You have to stop pretending.
[chuckles.]
Whatever kind of "journalist" you are, you do understand that my Russian exile father might have secrets to hide? You even made up the name.
Yeah, I told you, Delvey is my mother's maiden name.
I wanted to make it on my own merit.
Not on my father's coattails.
Okay, fine.
If you were so sure that the money was coming and you were going to succeed, then what about what you did in LA? [scoffs.]
I don't know what you're referring to.
[clears throat.]
- At the Chateau Marmont when you - When I what? Hmm? [officer.]
That's time.
Hundreds of hours, months of research, and you still don't know the first thing about me.
[scoffs.]
You lost weight though.
Hey, you had the baby.
Congrats.
["What D'You Know About Me?" playing.]
[cell phone chimes.]
[cell phone chimes.]
Where to? Chateau Marmont.
Ah, the castle on Sunset.
Where Jean Harlow fled her honeymoon to canoodle with Clark Gable.
Where James Dean jumped out a window to land a role.
Where John Belushi f Oh, ma'am.
It won't cost this much to get to West Hollywood.
That's not to drive, that's to shut up.
[cell phone vibrates.]
[car horns honking.]
- [baby crying.]
- [Jack.]
Can you believe it? It's been what, two months now and the news alert's still blowing up.
"Does Anna Delvey herald the end of the influencer?" "Anna Delvey is peak millennial culture.
" "Anna Delvey proved the flaws in the US immigration system"? - They never end.
- Mmm.
Viv.
Sorry, just Anna Delvey is not a take, she's not a meme I just feel like everyone missed the real story.
- [cooing.]
- [Jack.]
What was the real story? Something about class, social mobility Identity under capitalism.
I don't know.
Maybe it's on me.
I think maybe I never found the real story.
[scoffs.]
Viv, you set the Internet on fire.
Whatever story you found, it worked.
And then she left Central Saint Martins and got an internship at Purple, which is a disgusting French magazine you're not allowed to read.
What? It's a meme.
[baby cooing.]
"The end of the Soviet Union meant the end of a way of life.
For Russians high and low, this was both a catastrophe and an opportunity.
An opportunity to invent new lives.
" In addition to a full kitchen, the penthouse features a formal dining room.
Perfect for entertaining.
Now the rugs are from a Oh, what's this? Huh? [birds chirping.]
I hope everything is to your satisfaction.
Almost.
I'll need a good bottle of rosé.
Oh.
- Tell me you saw this.
- Saw what? Uh, Anna's Instagram, palm trees.
Those roof tiles.
That's the Chateau Marmont.
The what? The Chateau Marmont.
The hotel.
The hotel.
Okay, so it's a hotel.
I don't understand.
Anna's in LA, staying at the Chateau.
You can arrest her.
- Who? Me? - I don't know, the police? Much as I'd love to, I can't deputize the LAPD to comb Los Angeles for your friend.
[Rachel.]
But the judge gave a bench warrant.
As valuable as the paper it's printed on.
You know how many outstanding arrest warrants there are? Ten.
Million.
So, what? We just let her get away.
You said I had a case.
You said "broad pattern of theft.
" You won't to do your job? You know what's on my docket right now? Ten murders.
A terrorism case.
That's my job.
Your vacation money isn't my highest priority.
[sighs.]
Hey, between us, it looks like she ripped off bankers too.
We are keeping that quiet because it stands to embarrass a lot of powerful people.
But the DA is talking about impaneling a grand jury, see how far we can take this.
So you are not alone.
You are not forgotten.
The best thing you can do, wait.
Wait for the grand jury.
[Vivian.]
Thanks for meeting.
[Landon.]
Thank you for coming in on your maternity leave.
Congratulations, by the way.
Thanks.
Return of the conquering hero.
Have you looked at ChartBeat? Anna Delvey was our best performing piece in five years.
Socials through the roof.
Phones ringing, the publishers, advertisers.
"What's next for Vivian? What's next for Vivian?" They're asking for your take on Elizabeth Holmes.
Or Trump.
White-House-as-12-George.
Of course, we told all of them that you're out of commission for a while.
Well, actually that's why I wanted to meet.
I know what I want to do next.
Go on.
Swing for the fences.
[Vivian whispering.]
I'll go now.
I love you.
Bye.
[cooing.]
- [normally.]
You're going where? - [whispers.]
Jack! Sorry, you're going where? Germany.
Why? Because what if she's not fake? What if she's not a fake heiress? What if she's been telling the truth.
The money she had in New York.
Where was that from? The rumors that she's laundering money.
All the suspicious answers that I got from her parents.
- Slow down.
- This could be bigger than Anna.
It could be bigger than anyone knows and I - I know the timing is bad.
- [scoffs.]
I hate when I'm not in the same room as her.
I can't imagine being on a different continent, but everything's arranged.
The magazine bought my ticket, hotel.
I - Even hired a translator.
- [scoffs.]
And it's only for a week.
It's my responsibility as a journalist.
[sighs.]
It's just as a journalist, shouldn't you be keeping some distance from your subjects? That girl is a sociopath.
She fooled all those people into thinking she had money, and now, what if she's fooling you? It's not so simple.
She's not a sociopath.
How do you know that? Because of what happened at the Chateau Marmont.
There is more to the story than you or I or anyone knows.
But I opened this Pandora's box and now I have to close it.
["The Pines" playing.]
- [camera shutter clicks.]
- [cell phone dinging.]
[cell phone chiming intermittently.]
[grunts.]
[grunts.]
[engine whirring.]
[music playing.]
[indistinct announcement over PA.]
- [growls.]
- [speaking German.]
[in English.]
Sorry, I don't know German.
I'm meeting my Dad here.
[speaks German.]
[in English.]
Open please.
It's locked.
I don't know the combination.
I'm supposed to bring this straight to my dad.
- Hey! Stop! - [dog barking.]
[gasps, speaking Russian.]
[gasps.]
[dog barking.]
[in English.]
Hey, hey, hey.
For your trouble.
[policeman clears throat.]
Come with us.
Where are we going? To your father.
Guten tag.
- Mira, your translator.
- Ah.
Sorry, I think I scared you.
Thank you.
No, no.
Sorry, I was just daydreaming.
Imagining Anna leaving Russia and arriving here by herself.
I know, I keep trying to imagine what she must have been like as a girl.
You too? Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't fangirl too hard, but I freaking loved your article.
That's so nice.
Everyone did.
Everyone in Germany was, like, "We made that?" And I'm in journalism school, right, and everyone emailing each other, like, this is how you report a narrative feature.
Thank you, that's really satisfying to hear.
[chuckles.]
So, um, when my professor saw that your magazine was looking for a translator - Yeah.
- Competition was fierce.
Hmm.
- Bribes may or may not have been paid.
- [both chuckle.]
Okay.
Great.
[monitors beeping.]
[Anna breathing heavily.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[beeping continues.]
[door opens.]
You're awake.
Who are you? We'll get to that.
First, can you tell me who you are? - Anna.
- What day of the week is it? I never know what day of the week it is.
- Do you know where you are? - [sighs.]
It looks like a fucking hospital.
Hmm, well done.
I'm the attending psychiatrist, Andrew Millikan.
You're at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
Do you know why you are here, Anna? You were found unconscious next to an empty bottle of Xanax.
You're being so dramatic.
I was stressed and I wanted to sleep.
[Andrew.]
We resuscitated you.
Had you on a respirator.
You're very lucky, you know.
Okay.
Thanks.
I'm going to go now.
[Andrew.]
I still need to conduct a full evaluation, and you're on a 5150 psychiatric hold.
It means you're here for 72 hours or until we can determine next steps.
Ugh, what will you do if I leave? - [grunts.]
Kill me? - [beeping rapidly.]
I'll issue a Code Gold.
Physical therapists will come and restrain you.
I'm not afraid of physical therapists.
And I'll have to notify law enforcement.
So, let's begin.
[beeping resumes.]
[Vivian.]
So this guy, that's Vadim, Anna's father, who claims to be just an ordinary engineer who struggled to feed his family after the Soviet Union fell.
Eventually emigrated to Eschweiler, the town we're headed to right now.
He says he runs a trucking and cooling business.
- I'm not sure I'm buying it.
- Why not? Anna didn't exactly live modestly once she left Eschweiler.
Internships in Berlin and Paris.
Enrolled at Central St.
Martins and left after a week.
Could a trucker afford to bankroll all that? Also - Does this look like a trucker's house? - Oh, wow.
[pump beeping.]
So where do you think the money came from? Oh, sorry [grunts.]
Oh.
[chuckles.]
Uh New parent problems.
Anyway, - the money, I'm not sure - [beeps.]
but I think it helps to think about recent Russian history.
So, the Soviet Union falls, suddenly all the state-owned mines, factories, the whole country's up for grabs.
The men who grab it become unbelievably powerful.
[conductor.]
Eschweiler! [speaking German.]
[Vivian, in English.]
But eventually Russians get tired of these gangsters and they elect a new president, Vladimir Putin, who starts cracking down on them.
So the oligarchs start stashing their money abroad.
Hiding it in small European cities, behind boring front businesses, like trucking and cooling.
And the height of that mad money rush? 2006.
The same year Anna arrives in Germany.
- [people laughing.]
- [indistinct chatter.]
Anyeshka! You're really here! [laughing.]
What happened? Never mind.
Kellner! A bottle 1996 Château Petrus.
Dad, what's going on? What's going on? We're celebrating our new life together.
In Russia you never drank wine.
We never had anything nice.
Once a year, on your birthday, you had a Diet Coke.
You want a Diet Coke? [sighs.]
We never ate in restaurants.
You'll like it.
I promise.
[clears throat.]
Sir, our bar manager insisted He wanted to ensure you were aware that bottle, that's 3,000 euro.
That's very considerate.
I'll take it.
Thanks.
And we'll take a Diet Coke too.
I want you to remember this waiter.
How he insulted us.
Because we are foreign.
People here assume we are poor, desperate, dirty.
But, Anka, I have friends now.
Powerful friends.
We aren't poor anymore.
[cork pops.]
I like my wine sweet.
You have to overwhelm these people with your superiority.
[chuckles.]
Uh, so Anna was smuggling money for her father? I mean, maybe I know it's far-fetched, but there are crazier rumors about her out there.
That's the thing about Anna.
For every three crazy things you hear about her, one usually turns out to be true.
Anyway.
Let's visit the Sorokin villa.
Find out what's crazy and not.
[birds chirping.]
[Andrew.]
Why did you leave New York, anyway? I like LA in the fall.
Did you tell anyone you'd be here? Friends? Family? Do I have to tell everyone everything? Okay.
How about this? Is there anyone I might be able to talk to? Anyone back in Germany? - Why would you want to talk to them? - It could help you get out of here.
My job is to determine whether you're safe to send home If I really wanted to kill myself, I would have succeeded.
My family and I aren't exactly close.
That's a red flag for people like me.
[sighs.]
Not like that.
That whole life back in Germany, that's just behind me now.
It's just gone.
In journalism, a light touch is everything.
Even when you're banging on someone's door uninvited.
Especially then.
Get all of your prettiest, most polite German words ready.
So basically my least German German.
Exactly.
I I think The villa should be coming up.
Right here.
What the fuck.
Maybe we got the address wrong? [Vivian.]
That looks like Is that Vadim! [in German.]
Leave me alone! [in English.]
Vadim! Please, I need to talk to you! [Mira laughs.]
So, I checked the photo again and that empty lot, that's definitely where it used to be.
The villa Anna grew up in.
And now it's just gone.
Disappeared.
How does a mansion like that just disappear? Yeah.
I'm thinking, from the look of him, he wasn't as well-connected as I thought.
Maybe he was less oligarch, more mobster.
Maybe storing contraband in there.
Guns, drugs Yes.
German police started circling, he had to burn it down.
- Or insurance fraud.
- Or a rival made a hit! Or [both laugh.]
Look at me.
I was a New York sophisticate.
I was the jaded, irony-poisoned literati.
Now I'm chasing Russian men down alleyways and doing the full Claire Danes.
- I'm going down with you.
- [Vivian.]
Mmm.
[Andrew.]
Did you come to LA because you're running from something? - Running from what? - [Andrew.]
I'm looking at the evidence.
You came on a one-way ticket, without telling anyone, paying in cash [Anna.]
That's not evidence of anything.
Have you ever read Dostoyevsky? Sure.
[chuckles.]
I mean, not since college.
Hmm.
My father loved Dostoyevsky.
Crime and Punishment was his favorite novel.
Insisted I read it.
[chuckles.]
And there is this one character, Svidrigailov, one day, out of nowhere, Svidrigailov says he's going to make his fortune in America.
He says goodbye to all of his friends.
"Goodbye! I'm going to America.
" [scoffs.]
- You know what he does then? - Tell me.
He shoots himself.
In the head.
Well [sighs.]
at least we're talking now.
[church bell tolls.]
Well, welcome to small town Germany.
Let's get started.
See who knew Anna when she was just the fräulein next door.
[Mira chuckles.]
[man speaking German.]
[in English.]
He says he knows the Sorokins.
Apparently Vadim tried to sell him a freezer.
- [speaks German.]
- [in English.]
But he never trusted them.
[man speaking German.]
[chuckles.]
[in English.]
What? What did he say? He said Russians and Turks don't want to fit into real German society.
He said that to you? Yeah, welcome to small town Germany.
Hey.
- Hey, your sausage sucks.
- Ah [school bell ringing.]
[teacher.]
Yes, I read your article.
I couldn't believe it.
Our Anna? [Vivian.]
What was she like? That's just the thing.
She was normal.
A little shy maybe.
Shy? Anna? That's hard to imagine.
A little awkward.
Head in the clouds.
But maybe that was just her German, - it wasn't perfect yet.
- [bell rings.]
I'm sorry, I have to get to class, but good luck.
Can't wait to read more about our little celebrity.
[Vivian chuckles.]
[sighs.]
- Wow, this place, it looks like - Please don't say Hogwarts.
Sorry.
That was rude.
It just slipped out.
How did you know I was going to say Hogwarts? Americans think all these old places look like Hogwarts.
- Fine, you got me.
- [chuckles.]
But look at it.
I wish I'd gone to a place like this.
Hmm.
What? - Just say it.
- [chuckles.]
- I did go to a place like this.
- Ah.
I hate places like this.
I mean, all these old tiles and family crests and Latin mottos.
They say this place is German.
And for Germans.
And if you're not German, you're not welcome here.
So if you're from Turkey or from Russia, especially if your dad is some low-life [German pop music playing.]
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
Maybe the cafeteria will add borscht to the menu.
[all laughing.]
I mean, can you blame her for being shy in a place like this? Maybe I don't know.
It just doesn't sound like Anna to me.
[chuckles.]
[Andrew.]
You were 15.
Your father asked you to leave everything you knew.
Your home, your friends, your language.
- Do you resent him for that? - No.
I believed in the bright future he promised me.
And when you got to Germany? No, it's hard for immigrants anywhere.
People were cruel.
- Did you resent him then? - No, because I remember what he taught me.
To not let anyone define you by your past.
To show them the bright future you're building.
I resented that he forgot.
What do you mean? When we lost the house.
When people said they wouldn't do business with Russians.
When the bright future didn't show up and Go on.
And he started to drink.
The big, strong father I knew became small and And weak, and and angry and [Andrew.]
Violent? What would you do if he got violent? I read magazines.
[scoffs.]
I hid in my room with Vogue, Vogue Deutsch, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar.
I wanted to learn everything.
So I could be anything.
Because I still believed in that bright future.
And I was going to do whatever it took to get me away from Eschweiler.
Away from the girls at school.
[voice breaking.]
Away from my father.
[paper rustles.]
What's that for? Anna, you're crying.
[indistinct chatter.]
Ask him if he knows what happened to the villa.
Uh [speaking German.]
[speaks German, chuckles.]
[in English.]
He says that the industrial park that used to be a chemical plant that burnt down in the '80s, I guess the Health Department discovered the house was contaminated so Vadim had to demolish it.
Anna lived in a contaminated villa? So, Vadim was really selling refrigerators.
The villa was condemned.
He got it because no one else wanted it, and Anna was just some awkward schoolgirl.
I'm sorry, did I hear you say Anna? Sorry to interrupt, but you're American? Were you talking about Anna Sorokina? Did you know her? I wish I hadn't.
That bitch made my life hell in high school.
A teacher told us she was shy.
What do teachers know? She was a bit quiet when she first moved here.
And her German was bad, but then she got obsessed with clothes.
Started dressing better than anyone.
Became like the fashion police.
Okay.
That's our Anna.
["Lightswitch" playing.]
Pretending you is nice You ain't nice bitch Ain't never made your bed I made mine great I made this flavor taste You just bite it I know that Pocket empty, but my life so packed Not tryna win, I don't hold back Got a lot to say I don't talk back I'm an action girl You're all still wearing that? [scoffs.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[all.]
Prost! [all laughing.]
Oh.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
She'd be so mean if she didn't like your outfit, which in my case was every day.
- And everyone would just laugh.
- Seriously, Clara? You were the worst.
- You wanted her to like you so bad.
- I did not! She had a power over people.
Especially when we knew about her dad.
What about her dad? People said he was, like, this gangster or something.
And that he beat up someone's parents.
- People were scared of him.
- Scared of Anna too.
Yeah.
- Mmm.
- [girl 1.]
Oh, yeah.
- [girl 2.]
Um - Mmm.
See? There's something here, something big, right? - Right? - Maybe, yeah.
Maybe? We've talked to half the people in this town.
And what have we got? Gossip, rumors You're right.
I'm sorry.
There's only one interview that really matters.
Vadim.
But Vadim won't talk to us.
We'll make him.
[Andrew.]
So when you left Germany, you were running from something.
I was running to something.
That beautiful world in the magazines.
That world doesn't exist.
Except it does.
In London, Berlin, Paris, New York.
With their nights, parties.
I'd be two glasses of champagne in and I'd look at the beautiful people around me and think, "I made it.
I'm here.
" "In the center of the world.
" And then an ugly person shows up, or someone tells a boring story, or some bad music comes on and then you're nowhere again.
So, you have a third glass, a fourth you take a few pills and you wonder where the better party is.
Maybe it's in LA.
Maybe, maybe it's at the Chateau Marmont.
[scoffs.]
And then you wake up here.
[scoffs.]
The best party of all.
[chuckles.]
Vadim? - I know this is aggressive - [speaking German.]
[in English.]
No reporters! I'm not just some reporter.
I broke the story.
I know your daughter.
She's all alone in a cell at Rikers.
And I don't know what else you are, oligarch, gangster, but I know you're her father, and you should be helping her.
And I can help you help her if you'll just talk to me.
Mira, can you? Um [in German.]
She's really a nice person, she's just a little stressed right now.
Also she just gave birth? I don't really know if that's relevant.
But she just wants to ask you a few questions about your daughter and I promise then we'll leave you alone.
[breathes heavily.]
[in English.]
Fine.
We talk.
[Vadim speaking German.]
[in English.]
Uh, he says he can't explain what Anna did.
He can't understand it himself.
[speaking German.]
[Mira, in English.]
She always wanted more.
She was always looking at magazines, wanting the best shoes, clothes.
Lots of girls look at magazines.
Most don't commit wire fraud.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
She got reckless.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
In Moscow they say, "Why save money for a rainy day when instead you can buy Manolo Blahniks?" "God wouldn't rain on a girl in shoes like that.
" Vadim what I'm about to say is sensitive.
But a lot of people seem to be under the impression that you've got money hidden somewhere.
Your own daughter included.
I don't know what's true or not, but there are a lot of rumors flying around this town.
A lot of people here think you're some kind of, um, oligarch.
Or money-laundering front.
Or a gangster.
[Vadim speaking German.]
[Mira, in English.]
All he's done is try to provide for his family.
Can we meet your family? And can we come see your house? You have family? [speaking German.]
[in English.]
Don't you have family, children, people you love, would you want this for [speaking German.]
[in English.]
To be honest, the worst thing is that I'm acting exactly like him.
Drinking to avoid my problems.
It's like trying to escape him somehow and ended up becoming him.
[scoffs.]
Um What's the next question? Actually, that's it.
- That's it? - [Andrew.]
I'm signing off on your release.
I think what happened was an honest accident, and I don't think you're at risk of further self-harm.
But I am recommending you consider time at a drug and alcohol treatment facility.
Rehab? [sighs.]
I know, there's a certain stigma attached to that word, but what we did here today, that was just a start.
One good conversation isn't going to change your life, Anna.
The kind of change you need, deliberate, purposeful, for yourself and no one else.
That takes work.
It's Rehab, I just it just sounds so trashy.
[Andrew chuckles.]
You'd be surprised.
Especially in this city.
I mean, the LA area has some of the world's most comfortable facilities.
["Passcode" playing.]
Cos I like you, boy, I really like you But I've been through the fire Too many times So I gotta know gotta know Cos I really like you Wanna let you inside too But I've been through the fire Too many times Group session is at 6:00, so until then feel free to explore the grounds and make yourself at home.
Oh, uh, for privacy reasons, we actually don't allow photos.
- Oh! Okay, I guess one won't hurt.
- [shutter clicking rapidly.]
Oh, and there's just one more thing.
Um, I don't think we have a payment method on file for you yet.
Do you take wire transfers? [Rachel.]
Can you believe this? [Neff.]
Ooh! Dope pool.
She said I should visit her in LA, like we're still friends.
Like she didn't steal 60 grand from me.
- Ain't the cops on that? - Cops are useless.
I can't believe she is out there by a pool while I am here dodging calls from my credit card company.
I heard, if you legally change your name, they can't make you pay that.
What? Chill! Just trying to help.
Easy for you to chill, she paid you back.
And how are you so calm right now? I'm just not letting Anna take anything more from me.
No more of my time, no more of my attention.
I wish I had your Zen, you're not angry at all.
Here's the thing about anger.
When you're angry, you're just a character in someone else's story.
But when you let your anger go, you reclaim your own story.
Become your own protagonist again.
Mmm.
I mean, fuck.
Did you see that? It looked like he was going to tear my head off.
I think he was just embarrassed.
A man that defensive must have a lot to hide.
His family was being harassed by reporters.
- I don't think you should - Can you imagine him as a father? I'm thinking I've been getting this wrong.
What if Anna didn't become who she is because of her father, but in spite of him.
What if he pimped her out? It would explain a lot, why she never talks about her past.
How weird she gets about sex.
Her fixation on older men.
Oz, Danny Rose, Alan Reed! Vivian, I think what we just saw was a man under a lot of stress.
A tired man living a hard life.
You don't know Anna like I do.
A boring life doesn't produce Anna.
I'll find you later.
Vivian.
[sighs.]
New York is so washed.
These days all the top art school grads head straight from Yale to LA.
So, yeah.
That's why I'm thinking of setting up my foundation out here.
Um Okay.
- So anyway, we were discussing - [phone buzzing.]
radical self-compassion.
Oh, excuse me.
[chuckling.]
Rachel, you finally called me, bitch.
I miss you.
[Rachel.]
You know what? I miss you too.
Well, yeah, you'd better.
[chuckles.]
So, I'm actually in LA for the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, and, Anna, I know things have been tense between us lately, but I know you're a good person - and that you always mean well.
- Aw.
I was hoping we could meet for lunch? Let bygones be bygones.
Start fresh? [sighs.]
Oh, my God.
Yes, please.
I'm actually at this place in Malibu.
If I text you the address could you come pick me up? Of course.
I can be there in a bit.
[squeals.]
Okay.
Bye.
[chuckles.]
I'll see you.
[church bell tolling.]
[creaks.]
[speaking German.]
- [in English.]
I'm sorry.
I'm lost.
- Mama.
Papa.
- [whispering.]
I'm going.
- [normally.]
Papa.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
You're the one who wrote about our daughter? I guess you'd better come in.
Using your daily affirmations is a reminder of your own value.
You should see some results in the long term.
Uh, I've got to go.
I've got a lunch.
- Uh - Oh, is Spago still a thing? Anna, you can't just leave.
This is rehab.
[scoffs.]
It's not like it's prison.
[door opens.]
Wh Rachel, where are you? [Rachel.]
Just come out of the gate.
- I'm just round the corner.
- Oh.
[officer.]
Anna Sorokina? What the fuck? I'm supposed to meet my friend.
Rachel? Rachel! Rachel! There's a warrant out for your arrest in New York.
Well What? I I'll just take him upstairs.
[both speaking German.]
[in English.]
Beer? Oh, sure.
[bottles clinking.]
[fridge door closes.]
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
He says he's sorry for yelling at you in the restaurant.
There has been a lot of stress with all of you around.
- All of who? - [scoffs.]
You think you're the only one? Every day.
Email, phone call, knocking at door.
Anna Delvey.
Delvey! I've never heard that name.
So she just made the name up? Where do you think she got it from? No.
We are not doing that.
No journalism.
Hey, this isn't all on me.
If I hadn't written about her, someone else would have.
She's your daughter.
She did bad things and now she's famous.
What do we have to do with that? That's what I'm trying to find out.
Look, I'm sorry for trespassing.
But it's just I heard all these rumors.
Rumors, yeah.
Always rumors.
Since we move here, always "scary Russians.
" Yes, she sells heroin in refrigerator.
They have got Soviet gold buried in back yard.
Who knows? Maybe I've got Rasputin's penis in cupboard somewhere.
And now, daughter is criminal mastermind.
Except that one's true.
And she had to learn it somewhere, right? I'm just trying to figure out where.
[scoffs.]
[speaking Russian.]
[sighs.]
[in English.]
Please.
You are a mother? - Couple of months now.
- [chuckles.]
It's easier to imagine her father, to imagine me, as monsters.
It is better to believe monsters make monsters.
Because children, we think we make them.
We think we shape them and we create who they become.
Because we do for them, and we love them, and we guide them.
But no.
We do not make them.
Children do not come "from.
" They come "through.
" So she was always like this.
Do you know, sometimes, you have a child like my Ivan and their soul is your soul.
And sometimes you have a child that she's a stranger under your roof.
Anna was a stranger.
Her whole life.
A cold stranger.
But Do you know she tried to kill herself? In California? Why would someone like that who cares about no one, someone so confident, someone so free of self-doubt, try something like that? I thought I might find a clue here.
Something dark in her past.
I got obsessed.
You care about her.
[chuckles.]
She's good at making people care about her.
But if we've learned to let go, so can you.
Mmm.
You just let her go? Your own daughter? No.
She was always beyond us.
[indistinct chatter.]
[people laughing.]
[baby cooing.]
[indistinct chatter continues.]
- Vivian? - You're still up? What are you wearing? Uh, it's a long story.
Hey, I'm going to change my ticket and go home early.
Oh, what about the follow-up article? I'll make sure you still get paid, but I'm scrapping it.
What her parents had to say, no child should have to hear that.
[clicks tongue.]
- I'm sorry I dragged you out here.
- Are you kidding? [chuckles.]
When I could have been back at school transcribing tape.
This was so much more fun.
- Let's go in? Don't forget your bag.
- Let's go.
["I'm Good" playing.]
[Catherine.]
The Manhattan DA's Office is pleased to announce the indictment of Anna Sorokin.
Ms.
Sorokin is also known by the alias Anna Delvey.
Miss Sorokin is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of attempted grand larceny in the first degree, three counts of grand larceny in the second degree, and one count of grand larceny third degree, and theft of services.
Whatever you do, don't mention the Mets.
The judge is an old-school Dodgers fan, thinks they're only in LA temporarily and they're coming back to Brooklyn.
And the Mets are usurpers.
- Got me? - Hey, Todd.
Anna? Yo, that's my client! [sighs.]
So the next time we see her she'll be wearing a jumpsuit.
Mmm I knew she was due for a fall, but What was she doing in LA anyway? I think she was at some rehab.
Rehab? How'd you know that? Okay, look, guys, I wasn't going to say this, but I was actually on the phone with her when she was arrested.
Seriously? That's a coincidence.
It was surreal.
It was awful.
I hope they're treating her well.
Can you imagine? Anna in jail? Bet you can imagine it.
Oh, my God! [chuckles.]
I love your tattoos.
They're so cute.
[chuckles.]
[gasps.]
Hey, we missed you.
Oh, my boobs are going to explode.
- [baby cooing.]
- [Jack chuckles.]
Uh, this came in the mail for you.
What the Hang on a second.
[Vadim.]
Dear Vivian, forgive me if this note is not perfect, I use Google Translate.
My wife would have kill me if she knew I send this you, but like you, I can't stop wondering why my daughter would try to hurt herself.
The hospital sent us these.
I cannot find the answer in them.
Maybe you can.
Vadim.
[door buzzer sounds.]
- I hope you're here to apologize.
- Shut up.
To everyone else your father was a millionaire businessman about to make you rich.
To this doctor he was an abusive alcoholic you had to escape from.
That's not the Anna Delvey story.
You didn't really try to kill yourself.
Hi, I'm going to need more rosé.
Could you send someone up in 20 minutes? In case I don't answer, tell them the door is unlocked.
[chuckles.]
[Vivian.]
It was just another scam.
You played everyone in New York and then you went to LA and played them there.
And I let you play me too.
Hey, I never said I tried to kill myself.
People just love sob stories.
Everyone's so eager to help.
And then I wondered, why would she go to all that trouble? She could have hid out anywhere.
But she specifically tricked her way into rehab.
Then I looked into US visa law.
Yours was about to expire.
But the clock stops for hospitalizations, rehab included.
You were buying time.
What are you doing? Stop that.
What? Isn't that what you want? You solved the case.
You're a real investigative journalist.
Where'd you get those forms? Your father.
My father? Yeah.
I met him.
And he's not a pawn.
Or a fantasy.
Or a monster.
He's a father who loves you.
Then where is he? Why isn't he here for me? You've given a lot of people a lot of reasons to give up on Anna Delvey.
But, Anna, I am still here for you.
I am still rooting for you.
And I am here to tell you you don't have to keep doing this.
You can do something new.
Kill Anna Delvey.
What do you mean? I mean, stop the con.
Stop pretending.
Admit what you did.
Tell everyone you're sorry.
Ask for the plea deal back.
Go back to Germany.
Be with your family.
Be Anna Sorokina again.
What? So just admit I'm some criminal? That's not my story.
Then what is your story, Anna? [clears throat.]
You're the journalist.
You You're supposed to figure that out for yourself.
Uh Instead you'll have to, uh, watch along with everyone else.
[clears throat.]
Let's go! [sniffles.]
[buzzer sounds.]
[door closes.]
[closing theme music playing.]
Beautiful.
[baby cooing.]
It's late.
It's great.
[Vivian.]
It's late.
[scoffs.]
I'm sorry.
Is this like a post-partum thing? I want to comfort you, but I read I'm supposed to respect - Comfort me.
- Okay, you wrote a great article.
You wrote it while pregnant.
And now, we've got a new girl to obsess over.
Right? Right.
["Wow (Look At Me)" playing.]
Don't play it safe, I don't hesitate Don't hold me back, Imma handle it This ain't a match, we so different I run the spot, you just kickin it Most of the shots that you shoot And you miss All of the shots I be gettin it in Look at me now and look at my grin The fake heiress allegedly scammed her way through thousands of dollars in gourmet meals, luxury hotel rooms and private jet flights.
Sources say she also conned Manhattans' glitterati leaving egg on the faces of society's biggest players from the art world, real estate, fashion and Wall Street.
Hey, guys.
Okay, you discussed her at brunch, you put her outfits on your Pinterest.
Those Celine glasses Anyway, today we are dream-casting the Anna Delvey story.
Okay, I am obsessed with this story and can I just Okay, the "futurist boyfriend"? Michael Cera, am I right? Michael Cera? What the fuck? I'll tell you this much, she wouldn't fool me, or my friends.
[chuckling.]
And why is that? Easy.
The hair.
The girl needs to invest in a deep conditioner.
That's my girl.
That's my girl! That's my girl! That's my girl! [laughs.]
[chuckles.]
Sorokin! I love your eyeshadow.
No.
You can go in.
The rest of y'all, sit down.
[buzzer sounds.]
I am famous.
[opening theme music playing.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[Anna.]
Oh.
[chuckles.]
Wow.
[sniffs.]
[buzzer sounds.]
Hmm.
[clears throat.]
Okay, so You want compliments? [chuckling.]
No, I just No, you did a good job, it's just It's - What? - [chuckles.]
I guess I thought you were, like, a real journalist.
I put hundreds of hours into this article.
Months of interviews, research, fact-checking.
If the people around me had done their jobs, the loans would have been approved, my trust would have come through and I'd be sitting on Park Avenue instead of here with you.
That's a fact.
I'm a serious person and you make me sound like I made everything up.
Like I'm some liar.
- That's because you lied.
- [scoffs.]
There's no trust fund.
There never was.
Your dad's not some solar magnate.
KNS Trucking and Cooling, that's your dad's business.
Legal did research for the article.
We confirmed it.
There's no inheritance.
No fortune, no art collection, nothing.
Trucking and Cooling, is that what he's calling it these days? Anna, let it go.
Look around you.
You have to stop pretending.
[chuckles.]
Whatever kind of "journalist" you are, you do understand that my Russian exile father might have secrets to hide? You even made up the name.
Yeah, I told you, Delvey is my mother's maiden name.
I wanted to make it on my own merit.
Not on my father's coattails.
Okay, fine.
If you were so sure that the money was coming and you were going to succeed, then what about what you did in LA? [scoffs.]
I don't know what you're referring to.
[clears throat.]
- At the Chateau Marmont when you - When I what? Hmm? [officer.]
That's time.
Hundreds of hours, months of research, and you still don't know the first thing about me.
[scoffs.]
You lost weight though.
Hey, you had the baby.
Congrats.
["What D'You Know About Me?" playing.]
[cell phone chimes.]
[cell phone chimes.]
Where to? Chateau Marmont.
Ah, the castle on Sunset.
Where Jean Harlow fled her honeymoon to canoodle with Clark Gable.
Where James Dean jumped out a window to land a role.
Where John Belushi f Oh, ma'am.
It won't cost this much to get to West Hollywood.
That's not to drive, that's to shut up.
[cell phone vibrates.]
[car horns honking.]
- [baby crying.]
- [Jack.]
Can you believe it? It's been what, two months now and the news alert's still blowing up.
"Does Anna Delvey herald the end of the influencer?" "Anna Delvey is peak millennial culture.
" "Anna Delvey proved the flaws in the US immigration system"? - They never end.
- Mmm.
Viv.
Sorry, just Anna Delvey is not a take, she's not a meme I just feel like everyone missed the real story.
- [cooing.]
- [Jack.]
What was the real story? Something about class, social mobility Identity under capitalism.
I don't know.
Maybe it's on me.
I think maybe I never found the real story.
[scoffs.]
Viv, you set the Internet on fire.
Whatever story you found, it worked.
And then she left Central Saint Martins and got an internship at Purple, which is a disgusting French magazine you're not allowed to read.
What? It's a meme.
[baby cooing.]
"The end of the Soviet Union meant the end of a way of life.
For Russians high and low, this was both a catastrophe and an opportunity.
An opportunity to invent new lives.
" In addition to a full kitchen, the penthouse features a formal dining room.
Perfect for entertaining.
Now the rugs are from a Oh, what's this? Huh? [birds chirping.]
I hope everything is to your satisfaction.
Almost.
I'll need a good bottle of rosé.
Oh.
- Tell me you saw this.
- Saw what? Uh, Anna's Instagram, palm trees.
Those roof tiles.
That's the Chateau Marmont.
The what? The Chateau Marmont.
The hotel.
The hotel.
Okay, so it's a hotel.
I don't understand.
Anna's in LA, staying at the Chateau.
You can arrest her.
- Who? Me? - I don't know, the police? Much as I'd love to, I can't deputize the LAPD to comb Los Angeles for your friend.
[Rachel.]
But the judge gave a bench warrant.
As valuable as the paper it's printed on.
You know how many outstanding arrest warrants there are? Ten.
Million.
So, what? We just let her get away.
You said I had a case.
You said "broad pattern of theft.
" You won't to do your job? You know what's on my docket right now? Ten murders.
A terrorism case.
That's my job.
Your vacation money isn't my highest priority.
[sighs.]
Hey, between us, it looks like she ripped off bankers too.
We are keeping that quiet because it stands to embarrass a lot of powerful people.
But the DA is talking about impaneling a grand jury, see how far we can take this.
So you are not alone.
You are not forgotten.
The best thing you can do, wait.
Wait for the grand jury.
[Vivian.]
Thanks for meeting.
[Landon.]
Thank you for coming in on your maternity leave.
Congratulations, by the way.
Thanks.
Return of the conquering hero.
Have you looked at ChartBeat? Anna Delvey was our best performing piece in five years.
Socials through the roof.
Phones ringing, the publishers, advertisers.
"What's next for Vivian? What's next for Vivian?" They're asking for your take on Elizabeth Holmes.
Or Trump.
White-House-as-12-George.
Of course, we told all of them that you're out of commission for a while.
Well, actually that's why I wanted to meet.
I know what I want to do next.
Go on.
Swing for the fences.
[Vivian whispering.]
I'll go now.
I love you.
Bye.
[cooing.]
- [normally.]
You're going where? - [whispers.]
Jack! Sorry, you're going where? Germany.
Why? Because what if she's not fake? What if she's not a fake heiress? What if she's been telling the truth.
The money she had in New York.
Where was that from? The rumors that she's laundering money.
All the suspicious answers that I got from her parents.
- Slow down.
- This could be bigger than Anna.
It could be bigger than anyone knows and I - I know the timing is bad.
- [scoffs.]
I hate when I'm not in the same room as her.
I can't imagine being on a different continent, but everything's arranged.
The magazine bought my ticket, hotel.
I - Even hired a translator.
- [scoffs.]
And it's only for a week.
It's my responsibility as a journalist.
[sighs.]
It's just as a journalist, shouldn't you be keeping some distance from your subjects? That girl is a sociopath.
She fooled all those people into thinking she had money, and now, what if she's fooling you? It's not so simple.
She's not a sociopath.
How do you know that? Because of what happened at the Chateau Marmont.
There is more to the story than you or I or anyone knows.
But I opened this Pandora's box and now I have to close it.
["The Pines" playing.]
- [camera shutter clicks.]
- [cell phone dinging.]
[cell phone chiming intermittently.]
[grunts.]
[grunts.]
[engine whirring.]
[music playing.]
[indistinct announcement over PA.]
- [growls.]
- [speaking German.]
[in English.]
Sorry, I don't know German.
I'm meeting my Dad here.
[speaks German.]
[in English.]
Open please.
It's locked.
I don't know the combination.
I'm supposed to bring this straight to my dad.
- Hey! Stop! - [dog barking.]
[gasps, speaking Russian.]
[gasps.]
[dog barking.]
[in English.]
Hey, hey, hey.
For your trouble.
[policeman clears throat.]
Come with us.
Where are we going? To your father.
Guten tag.
- Mira, your translator.
- Ah.
Sorry, I think I scared you.
Thank you.
No, no.
Sorry, I was just daydreaming.
Imagining Anna leaving Russia and arriving here by herself.
I know, I keep trying to imagine what she must have been like as a girl.
You too? Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't fangirl too hard, but I freaking loved your article.
That's so nice.
Everyone did.
Everyone in Germany was, like, "We made that?" And I'm in journalism school, right, and everyone emailing each other, like, this is how you report a narrative feature.
Thank you, that's really satisfying to hear.
[chuckles.]
So, um, when my professor saw that your magazine was looking for a translator - Yeah.
- Competition was fierce.
Hmm.
- Bribes may or may not have been paid.
- [both chuckle.]
Okay.
Great.
[monitors beeping.]
[Anna breathing heavily.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[beeping continues.]
[door opens.]
You're awake.
Who are you? We'll get to that.
First, can you tell me who you are? - Anna.
- What day of the week is it? I never know what day of the week it is.
- Do you know where you are? - [sighs.]
It looks like a fucking hospital.
Hmm, well done.
I'm the attending psychiatrist, Andrew Millikan.
You're at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
Do you know why you are here, Anna? You were found unconscious next to an empty bottle of Xanax.
You're being so dramatic.
I was stressed and I wanted to sleep.
[Andrew.]
We resuscitated you.
Had you on a respirator.
You're very lucky, you know.
Okay.
Thanks.
I'm going to go now.
[Andrew.]
I still need to conduct a full evaluation, and you're on a 5150 psychiatric hold.
It means you're here for 72 hours or until we can determine next steps.
Ugh, what will you do if I leave? - [grunts.]
Kill me? - [beeping rapidly.]
I'll issue a Code Gold.
Physical therapists will come and restrain you.
I'm not afraid of physical therapists.
And I'll have to notify law enforcement.
So, let's begin.
[beeping resumes.]
[Vivian.]
So this guy, that's Vadim, Anna's father, who claims to be just an ordinary engineer who struggled to feed his family after the Soviet Union fell.
Eventually emigrated to Eschweiler, the town we're headed to right now.
He says he runs a trucking and cooling business.
- I'm not sure I'm buying it.
- Why not? Anna didn't exactly live modestly once she left Eschweiler.
Internships in Berlin and Paris.
Enrolled at Central St.
Martins and left after a week.
Could a trucker afford to bankroll all that? Also - Does this look like a trucker's house? - Oh, wow.
[pump beeping.]
So where do you think the money came from? Oh, sorry [grunts.]
Oh.
[chuckles.]
Uh New parent problems.
Anyway, - the money, I'm not sure - [beeps.]
but I think it helps to think about recent Russian history.
So, the Soviet Union falls, suddenly all the state-owned mines, factories, the whole country's up for grabs.
The men who grab it become unbelievably powerful.
[conductor.]
Eschweiler! [speaking German.]
[Vivian, in English.]
But eventually Russians get tired of these gangsters and they elect a new president, Vladimir Putin, who starts cracking down on them.
So the oligarchs start stashing their money abroad.
Hiding it in small European cities, behind boring front businesses, like trucking and cooling.
And the height of that mad money rush? 2006.
The same year Anna arrives in Germany.
- [people laughing.]
- [indistinct chatter.]
Anyeshka! You're really here! [laughing.]
What happened? Never mind.
Kellner! A bottle 1996 Château Petrus.
Dad, what's going on? What's going on? We're celebrating our new life together.
In Russia you never drank wine.
We never had anything nice.
Once a year, on your birthday, you had a Diet Coke.
You want a Diet Coke? [sighs.]
We never ate in restaurants.
You'll like it.
I promise.
[clears throat.]
Sir, our bar manager insisted He wanted to ensure you were aware that bottle, that's 3,000 euro.
That's very considerate.
I'll take it.
Thanks.
And we'll take a Diet Coke too.
I want you to remember this waiter.
How he insulted us.
Because we are foreign.
People here assume we are poor, desperate, dirty.
But, Anka, I have friends now.
Powerful friends.
We aren't poor anymore.
[cork pops.]
I like my wine sweet.
You have to overwhelm these people with your superiority.
[chuckles.]
Uh, so Anna was smuggling money for her father? I mean, maybe I know it's far-fetched, but there are crazier rumors about her out there.
That's the thing about Anna.
For every three crazy things you hear about her, one usually turns out to be true.
Anyway.
Let's visit the Sorokin villa.
Find out what's crazy and not.
[birds chirping.]
[Andrew.]
Why did you leave New York, anyway? I like LA in the fall.
Did you tell anyone you'd be here? Friends? Family? Do I have to tell everyone everything? Okay.
How about this? Is there anyone I might be able to talk to? Anyone back in Germany? - Why would you want to talk to them? - It could help you get out of here.
My job is to determine whether you're safe to send home If I really wanted to kill myself, I would have succeeded.
My family and I aren't exactly close.
That's a red flag for people like me.
[sighs.]
Not like that.
That whole life back in Germany, that's just behind me now.
It's just gone.
In journalism, a light touch is everything.
Even when you're banging on someone's door uninvited.
Especially then.
Get all of your prettiest, most polite German words ready.
So basically my least German German.
Exactly.
I I think The villa should be coming up.
Right here.
What the fuck.
Maybe we got the address wrong? [Vivian.]
That looks like Is that Vadim! [in German.]
Leave me alone! [in English.]
Vadim! Please, I need to talk to you! [Mira laughs.]
So, I checked the photo again and that empty lot, that's definitely where it used to be.
The villa Anna grew up in.
And now it's just gone.
Disappeared.
How does a mansion like that just disappear? Yeah.
I'm thinking, from the look of him, he wasn't as well-connected as I thought.
Maybe he was less oligarch, more mobster.
Maybe storing contraband in there.
Guns, drugs Yes.
German police started circling, he had to burn it down.
- Or insurance fraud.
- Or a rival made a hit! Or [both laugh.]
Look at me.
I was a New York sophisticate.
I was the jaded, irony-poisoned literati.
Now I'm chasing Russian men down alleyways and doing the full Claire Danes.
- I'm going down with you.
- [Vivian.]
Mmm.
[Andrew.]
Did you come to LA because you're running from something? - Running from what? - [Andrew.]
I'm looking at the evidence.
You came on a one-way ticket, without telling anyone, paying in cash [Anna.]
That's not evidence of anything.
Have you ever read Dostoyevsky? Sure.
[chuckles.]
I mean, not since college.
Hmm.
My father loved Dostoyevsky.
Crime and Punishment was his favorite novel.
Insisted I read it.
[chuckles.]
And there is this one character, Svidrigailov, one day, out of nowhere, Svidrigailov says he's going to make his fortune in America.
He says goodbye to all of his friends.
"Goodbye! I'm going to America.
" [scoffs.]
- You know what he does then? - Tell me.
He shoots himself.
In the head.
Well [sighs.]
at least we're talking now.
[church bell tolls.]
Well, welcome to small town Germany.
Let's get started.
See who knew Anna when she was just the fräulein next door.
[Mira chuckles.]
[man speaking German.]
[in English.]
He says he knows the Sorokins.
Apparently Vadim tried to sell him a freezer.
- [speaks German.]
- [in English.]
But he never trusted them.
[man speaking German.]
[chuckles.]
[in English.]
What? What did he say? He said Russians and Turks don't want to fit into real German society.
He said that to you? Yeah, welcome to small town Germany.
Hey.
- Hey, your sausage sucks.
- Ah [school bell ringing.]
[teacher.]
Yes, I read your article.
I couldn't believe it.
Our Anna? [Vivian.]
What was she like? That's just the thing.
She was normal.
A little shy maybe.
Shy? Anna? That's hard to imagine.
A little awkward.
Head in the clouds.
But maybe that was just her German, - it wasn't perfect yet.
- [bell rings.]
I'm sorry, I have to get to class, but good luck.
Can't wait to read more about our little celebrity.
[Vivian chuckles.]
[sighs.]
- Wow, this place, it looks like - Please don't say Hogwarts.
Sorry.
That was rude.
It just slipped out.
How did you know I was going to say Hogwarts? Americans think all these old places look like Hogwarts.
- Fine, you got me.
- [chuckles.]
But look at it.
I wish I'd gone to a place like this.
Hmm.
What? - Just say it.
- [chuckles.]
- I did go to a place like this.
- Ah.
I hate places like this.
I mean, all these old tiles and family crests and Latin mottos.
They say this place is German.
And for Germans.
And if you're not German, you're not welcome here.
So if you're from Turkey or from Russia, especially if your dad is some low-life [German pop music playing.]
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
Maybe the cafeteria will add borscht to the menu.
[all laughing.]
I mean, can you blame her for being shy in a place like this? Maybe I don't know.
It just doesn't sound like Anna to me.
[chuckles.]
[Andrew.]
You were 15.
Your father asked you to leave everything you knew.
Your home, your friends, your language.
- Do you resent him for that? - No.
I believed in the bright future he promised me.
And when you got to Germany? No, it's hard for immigrants anywhere.
People were cruel.
- Did you resent him then? - No, because I remember what he taught me.
To not let anyone define you by your past.
To show them the bright future you're building.
I resented that he forgot.
What do you mean? When we lost the house.
When people said they wouldn't do business with Russians.
When the bright future didn't show up and Go on.
And he started to drink.
The big, strong father I knew became small and And weak, and and angry and [Andrew.]
Violent? What would you do if he got violent? I read magazines.
[scoffs.]
I hid in my room with Vogue, Vogue Deutsch, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar.
I wanted to learn everything.
So I could be anything.
Because I still believed in that bright future.
And I was going to do whatever it took to get me away from Eschweiler.
Away from the girls at school.
[voice breaking.]
Away from my father.
[paper rustles.]
What's that for? Anna, you're crying.
[indistinct chatter.]
Ask him if he knows what happened to the villa.
Uh [speaking German.]
[speaks German, chuckles.]
[in English.]
He says that the industrial park that used to be a chemical plant that burnt down in the '80s, I guess the Health Department discovered the house was contaminated so Vadim had to demolish it.
Anna lived in a contaminated villa? So, Vadim was really selling refrigerators.
The villa was condemned.
He got it because no one else wanted it, and Anna was just some awkward schoolgirl.
I'm sorry, did I hear you say Anna? Sorry to interrupt, but you're American? Were you talking about Anna Sorokina? Did you know her? I wish I hadn't.
That bitch made my life hell in high school.
A teacher told us she was shy.
What do teachers know? She was a bit quiet when she first moved here.
And her German was bad, but then she got obsessed with clothes.
Started dressing better than anyone.
Became like the fashion police.
Okay.
That's our Anna.
["Lightswitch" playing.]
Pretending you is nice You ain't nice bitch Ain't never made your bed I made mine great I made this flavor taste You just bite it I know that Pocket empty, but my life so packed Not tryna win, I don't hold back Got a lot to say I don't talk back I'm an action girl You're all still wearing that? [scoffs.]
[indistinct chatter.]
[all.]
Prost! [all laughing.]
Oh.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
She'd be so mean if she didn't like your outfit, which in my case was every day.
- And everyone would just laugh.
- Seriously, Clara? You were the worst.
- You wanted her to like you so bad.
- I did not! She had a power over people.
Especially when we knew about her dad.
What about her dad? People said he was, like, this gangster or something.
And that he beat up someone's parents.
- People were scared of him.
- Scared of Anna too.
Yeah.
- Mmm.
- [girl 1.]
Oh, yeah.
- [girl 2.]
Um - Mmm.
See? There's something here, something big, right? - Right? - Maybe, yeah.
Maybe? We've talked to half the people in this town.
And what have we got? Gossip, rumors You're right.
I'm sorry.
There's only one interview that really matters.
Vadim.
But Vadim won't talk to us.
We'll make him.
[Andrew.]
So when you left Germany, you were running from something.
I was running to something.
That beautiful world in the magazines.
That world doesn't exist.
Except it does.
In London, Berlin, Paris, New York.
With their nights, parties.
I'd be two glasses of champagne in and I'd look at the beautiful people around me and think, "I made it.
I'm here.
" "In the center of the world.
" And then an ugly person shows up, or someone tells a boring story, or some bad music comes on and then you're nowhere again.
So, you have a third glass, a fourth you take a few pills and you wonder where the better party is.
Maybe it's in LA.
Maybe, maybe it's at the Chateau Marmont.
[scoffs.]
And then you wake up here.
[scoffs.]
The best party of all.
[chuckles.]
Vadim? - I know this is aggressive - [speaking German.]
[in English.]
No reporters! I'm not just some reporter.
I broke the story.
I know your daughter.
She's all alone in a cell at Rikers.
And I don't know what else you are, oligarch, gangster, but I know you're her father, and you should be helping her.
And I can help you help her if you'll just talk to me.
Mira, can you? Um [in German.]
She's really a nice person, she's just a little stressed right now.
Also she just gave birth? I don't really know if that's relevant.
But she just wants to ask you a few questions about your daughter and I promise then we'll leave you alone.
[breathes heavily.]
[in English.]
Fine.
We talk.
[Vadim speaking German.]
[in English.]
Uh, he says he can't explain what Anna did.
He can't understand it himself.
[speaking German.]
[Mira, in English.]
She always wanted more.
She was always looking at magazines, wanting the best shoes, clothes.
Lots of girls look at magazines.
Most don't commit wire fraud.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
She got reckless.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
In Moscow they say, "Why save money for a rainy day when instead you can buy Manolo Blahniks?" "God wouldn't rain on a girl in shoes like that.
" Vadim what I'm about to say is sensitive.
But a lot of people seem to be under the impression that you've got money hidden somewhere.
Your own daughter included.
I don't know what's true or not, but there are a lot of rumors flying around this town.
A lot of people here think you're some kind of, um, oligarch.
Or money-laundering front.
Or a gangster.
[Vadim speaking German.]
[Mira, in English.]
All he's done is try to provide for his family.
Can we meet your family? And can we come see your house? You have family? [speaking German.]
[in English.]
Don't you have family, children, people you love, would you want this for [speaking German.]
[in English.]
To be honest, the worst thing is that I'm acting exactly like him.
Drinking to avoid my problems.
It's like trying to escape him somehow and ended up becoming him.
[scoffs.]
Um What's the next question? Actually, that's it.
- That's it? - [Andrew.]
I'm signing off on your release.
I think what happened was an honest accident, and I don't think you're at risk of further self-harm.
But I am recommending you consider time at a drug and alcohol treatment facility.
Rehab? [sighs.]
I know, there's a certain stigma attached to that word, but what we did here today, that was just a start.
One good conversation isn't going to change your life, Anna.
The kind of change you need, deliberate, purposeful, for yourself and no one else.
That takes work.
It's Rehab, I just it just sounds so trashy.
[Andrew chuckles.]
You'd be surprised.
Especially in this city.
I mean, the LA area has some of the world's most comfortable facilities.
["Passcode" playing.]
Cos I like you, boy, I really like you But I've been through the fire Too many times So I gotta know gotta know Cos I really like you Wanna let you inside too But I've been through the fire Too many times Group session is at 6:00, so until then feel free to explore the grounds and make yourself at home.
Oh, uh, for privacy reasons, we actually don't allow photos.
- Oh! Okay, I guess one won't hurt.
- [shutter clicking rapidly.]
Oh, and there's just one more thing.
Um, I don't think we have a payment method on file for you yet.
Do you take wire transfers? [Rachel.]
Can you believe this? [Neff.]
Ooh! Dope pool.
She said I should visit her in LA, like we're still friends.
Like she didn't steal 60 grand from me.
- Ain't the cops on that? - Cops are useless.
I can't believe she is out there by a pool while I am here dodging calls from my credit card company.
I heard, if you legally change your name, they can't make you pay that.
What? Chill! Just trying to help.
Easy for you to chill, she paid you back.
And how are you so calm right now? I'm just not letting Anna take anything more from me.
No more of my time, no more of my attention.
I wish I had your Zen, you're not angry at all.
Here's the thing about anger.
When you're angry, you're just a character in someone else's story.
But when you let your anger go, you reclaim your own story.
Become your own protagonist again.
Mmm.
I mean, fuck.
Did you see that? It looked like he was going to tear my head off.
I think he was just embarrassed.
A man that defensive must have a lot to hide.
His family was being harassed by reporters.
- I don't think you should - Can you imagine him as a father? I'm thinking I've been getting this wrong.
What if Anna didn't become who she is because of her father, but in spite of him.
What if he pimped her out? It would explain a lot, why she never talks about her past.
How weird she gets about sex.
Her fixation on older men.
Oz, Danny Rose, Alan Reed! Vivian, I think what we just saw was a man under a lot of stress.
A tired man living a hard life.
You don't know Anna like I do.
A boring life doesn't produce Anna.
I'll find you later.
Vivian.
[sighs.]
New York is so washed.
These days all the top art school grads head straight from Yale to LA.
So, yeah.
That's why I'm thinking of setting up my foundation out here.
Um Okay.
- So anyway, we were discussing - [phone buzzing.]
radical self-compassion.
Oh, excuse me.
[chuckling.]
Rachel, you finally called me, bitch.
I miss you.
[Rachel.]
You know what? I miss you too.
Well, yeah, you'd better.
[chuckles.]
So, I'm actually in LA for the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, and, Anna, I know things have been tense between us lately, but I know you're a good person - and that you always mean well.
- Aw.
I was hoping we could meet for lunch? Let bygones be bygones.
Start fresh? [sighs.]
Oh, my God.
Yes, please.
I'm actually at this place in Malibu.
If I text you the address could you come pick me up? Of course.
I can be there in a bit.
[squeals.]
Okay.
Bye.
[chuckles.]
I'll see you.
[church bell tolling.]
[creaks.]
[speaking German.]
- [in English.]
I'm sorry.
I'm lost.
- Mama.
Papa.
- [whispering.]
I'm going.
- [normally.]
Papa.
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
You're the one who wrote about our daughter? I guess you'd better come in.
Using your daily affirmations is a reminder of your own value.
You should see some results in the long term.
Uh, I've got to go.
I've got a lunch.
- Uh - Oh, is Spago still a thing? Anna, you can't just leave.
This is rehab.
[scoffs.]
It's not like it's prison.
[door opens.]
Wh Rachel, where are you? [Rachel.]
Just come out of the gate.
- I'm just round the corner.
- Oh.
[officer.]
Anna Sorokina? What the fuck? I'm supposed to meet my friend.
Rachel? Rachel! Rachel! There's a warrant out for your arrest in New York.
Well What? I I'll just take him upstairs.
[both speaking German.]
[in English.]
Beer? Oh, sure.
[bottles clinking.]
[fridge door closes.]
[speaking German.]
[in English.]
He says he's sorry for yelling at you in the restaurant.
There has been a lot of stress with all of you around.
- All of who? - [scoffs.]
You think you're the only one? Every day.
Email, phone call, knocking at door.
Anna Delvey.
Delvey! I've never heard that name.
So she just made the name up? Where do you think she got it from? No.
We are not doing that.
No journalism.
Hey, this isn't all on me.
If I hadn't written about her, someone else would have.
She's your daughter.
She did bad things and now she's famous.
What do we have to do with that? That's what I'm trying to find out.
Look, I'm sorry for trespassing.
But it's just I heard all these rumors.
Rumors, yeah.
Always rumors.
Since we move here, always "scary Russians.
" Yes, she sells heroin in refrigerator.
They have got Soviet gold buried in back yard.
Who knows? Maybe I've got Rasputin's penis in cupboard somewhere.
And now, daughter is criminal mastermind.
Except that one's true.
And she had to learn it somewhere, right? I'm just trying to figure out where.
[scoffs.]
[speaking Russian.]
[sighs.]
[in English.]
Please.
You are a mother? - Couple of months now.
- [chuckles.]
It's easier to imagine her father, to imagine me, as monsters.
It is better to believe monsters make monsters.
Because children, we think we make them.
We think we shape them and we create who they become.
Because we do for them, and we love them, and we guide them.
But no.
We do not make them.
Children do not come "from.
" They come "through.
" So she was always like this.
Do you know, sometimes, you have a child like my Ivan and their soul is your soul.
And sometimes you have a child that she's a stranger under your roof.
Anna was a stranger.
Her whole life.
A cold stranger.
But Do you know she tried to kill herself? In California? Why would someone like that who cares about no one, someone so confident, someone so free of self-doubt, try something like that? I thought I might find a clue here.
Something dark in her past.
I got obsessed.
You care about her.
[chuckles.]
She's good at making people care about her.
But if we've learned to let go, so can you.
Mmm.
You just let her go? Your own daughter? No.
She was always beyond us.
[indistinct chatter.]
[people laughing.]
[baby cooing.]
[indistinct chatter continues.]
- Vivian? - You're still up? What are you wearing? Uh, it's a long story.
Hey, I'm going to change my ticket and go home early.
Oh, what about the follow-up article? I'll make sure you still get paid, but I'm scrapping it.
What her parents had to say, no child should have to hear that.
[clicks tongue.]
- I'm sorry I dragged you out here.
- Are you kidding? [chuckles.]
When I could have been back at school transcribing tape.
This was so much more fun.
- Let's go in? Don't forget your bag.
- Let's go.
["I'm Good" playing.]
[Catherine.]
The Manhattan DA's Office is pleased to announce the indictment of Anna Sorokin.
Ms.
Sorokin is also known by the alias Anna Delvey.
Miss Sorokin is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with two counts of attempted grand larceny in the first degree, three counts of grand larceny in the second degree, and one count of grand larceny third degree, and theft of services.
Whatever you do, don't mention the Mets.
The judge is an old-school Dodgers fan, thinks they're only in LA temporarily and they're coming back to Brooklyn.
And the Mets are usurpers.
- Got me? - Hey, Todd.
Anna? Yo, that's my client! [sighs.]
So the next time we see her she'll be wearing a jumpsuit.
Mmm I knew she was due for a fall, but What was she doing in LA anyway? I think she was at some rehab.
Rehab? How'd you know that? Okay, look, guys, I wasn't going to say this, but I was actually on the phone with her when she was arrested.
Seriously? That's a coincidence.
It was surreal.
It was awful.
I hope they're treating her well.
Can you imagine? Anna in jail? Bet you can imagine it.
Oh, my God! [chuckles.]
I love your tattoos.
They're so cute.
[chuckles.]
[gasps.]
Hey, we missed you.
Oh, my boobs are going to explode.
- [baby cooing.]
- [Jack chuckles.]
Uh, this came in the mail for you.
What the Hang on a second.
[Vadim.]
Dear Vivian, forgive me if this note is not perfect, I use Google Translate.
My wife would have kill me if she knew I send this you, but like you, I can't stop wondering why my daughter would try to hurt herself.
The hospital sent us these.
I cannot find the answer in them.
Maybe you can.
Vadim.
[door buzzer sounds.]
- I hope you're here to apologize.
- Shut up.
To everyone else your father was a millionaire businessman about to make you rich.
To this doctor he was an abusive alcoholic you had to escape from.
That's not the Anna Delvey story.
You didn't really try to kill yourself.
Hi, I'm going to need more rosé.
Could you send someone up in 20 minutes? In case I don't answer, tell them the door is unlocked.
[chuckles.]
[Vivian.]
It was just another scam.
You played everyone in New York and then you went to LA and played them there.
And I let you play me too.
Hey, I never said I tried to kill myself.
People just love sob stories.
Everyone's so eager to help.
And then I wondered, why would she go to all that trouble? She could have hid out anywhere.
But she specifically tricked her way into rehab.
Then I looked into US visa law.
Yours was about to expire.
But the clock stops for hospitalizations, rehab included.
You were buying time.
What are you doing? Stop that.
What? Isn't that what you want? You solved the case.
You're a real investigative journalist.
Where'd you get those forms? Your father.
My father? Yeah.
I met him.
And he's not a pawn.
Or a fantasy.
Or a monster.
He's a father who loves you.
Then where is he? Why isn't he here for me? You've given a lot of people a lot of reasons to give up on Anna Delvey.
But, Anna, I am still here for you.
I am still rooting for you.
And I am here to tell you you don't have to keep doing this.
You can do something new.
Kill Anna Delvey.
What do you mean? I mean, stop the con.
Stop pretending.
Admit what you did.
Tell everyone you're sorry.
Ask for the plea deal back.
Go back to Germany.
Be with your family.
Be Anna Sorokina again.
What? So just admit I'm some criminal? That's not my story.
Then what is your story, Anna? [clears throat.]
You're the journalist.
You You're supposed to figure that out for yourself.
Uh Instead you'll have to, uh, watch along with everyone else.
[clears throat.]
Let's go! [sniffles.]
[buzzer sounds.]
[door closes.]
[closing theme music playing.]