Apple, Cider, Vinegar and the wellness scam

There’s nothing Netflix producers love more than scammers: from Bad Vegan to TV series like Inventing Anna, whether in the world of fine dining or start-ups, nothing is more fascinating than the art of deception. The series Apple, Cider, Vinegar, released on Netflix on February 6, 2025, fits perfectly into this category, telling the story of Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), an Australian influencer who rose to fame by sharing her alleged recovery from cancer on Instagram—achieved through alternative and non-traditional medicine. The only problem? That cancer never existed.

The Cult of Wellness Influencers

Alternating between past and present, the series explores the rise of wellness culture and social media, examining influencers who promote dangerous lifestyles, misinformation, and parasocial relationships. "I just wanted to give people advice on how to feel better," Belle tells her crisis manager in the second episode while recounting the story behind the app that made her famous, The Whole Pantry, which claims to recommend what to eat "like a friend, more than a friend." Every recipe on the app is strictly vegan, sugar-free, and inspired by a paleo diet, promising to heal the body—and even cancer. Gibson builds her credibility by mixing scientific terminology with a deeply emotional narrative, sharing fabricated life events and traumas. Apple, Cider, Vinegar masterfully captures what draws people to wellness influencers: a desire for community, frustration with the healthcare system—particularly in English-speaking countries—and the relentless pursuit of self-improvement through food and holistic approaches.

Nothing Sells Better Than Wellness

Life has a funny way of making connections, and just as this series debuted on Netflix, I was reading a novel titled Wellness by Nathan Hill (published in Italy by Rizzoli). The rise of social media is one of the key parallels between the Netflix series and the novel, and the title itself encapsulates what obsesses both Belle Gibson and the novel’s protagonist, Elizabeth—though in very different ways. Hill uses the love story between Elizabeth and her husband Jack as a narrative device, following their relationship from the '90s to the present while critiquing various aspects of contemporary American society: gentrification, conspiracy theories, social media algorithms, academia, and the obsession with self-improvement. The author carefully examines the studies Elizabeth, a psychologist, explores throughout the novel, offering the reader a depth of insight that the Netflix series visually presents. Just like The Whole Pantry app, the real desire isn’t rooted in actual health benefits from "better" eating, but rather in the idea of it. The kitchen Elizabeth dreams of, for example, is a place where "every dish was perfectly coordinated, where there were no grease stains on any surface... a kitchen designed more for reflection and meditation than actual cooking." Both the book and the series dismantle the illusion that many still try to sell us: that simply believing in something is enough to succeed, and that there is something out there that can cure all ills.