Bad Vegan has landed on Netflix, finally, with four episodes available to watch now. Happy hump day, indeed!
The new fraud documentary from the makers of Tiger King has come in the form of a four-part limited series, which has episodes ranging between 47 and 61 minutes.
“A savvy celebrity restauranteur builds a raw food empire. But her road to success takes a strange turn when she falls under a mysterious man's influence,” reads the Netflix synopsis.
We already know the show chronicles the real-life story of A-list vegan chef Sarma Melngallis, who is swept of her feet by a mysterious love interest, Anthony. While we're not sure exactly where this is going, we're getting a bad feeling about this one…
Described as the "Norwegian Fleabag", the Oscar-nominated film is a surprise breakout hit this awards season.
Early viewers are praising the show and making comparisons to The Tinder Swindler, although some have commented on the discomfort of seeing yet another coercive control narrative on-screen.
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Ever since Tiger King came out in 2020 (coinciding with the height of the first lockdown, where we needed something new to stay sane, and sending the internet into a Carol Baskin-singing frenzy), we've become a nation obsessed with true crime documentaries. Sure, we throw in the occasional Bridgerton-esque show, but there's nothing quite like the tense rollercoaster that Making a Murderer and Don't F**k With Cats offer us.
The latest, of course, came in the form of the Tinder Swindler and then New York's very own fake-heiress, Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna, but it looks like Netflix have an even bigger, more unbelievable, story up their sleeves: Bad Vegan.
And if you came here thinking you were about to get some sort of documentary about vegans who broke and ate cheese, think again, because while it’s not a food-focused film, it's much more scandalous than the title might suggest.
The new four-part Netflix show will focus on Sarma Melngailis, a celebrity vegan restaurateur — and owner of the then-most famous raw food restaurant in America. But, what starts as a successful project quickly unravels into a disaster (as you might have guessed), with Netflix titling the series, Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
Plus, the documentary comes from Chris Smith, the executive producer of Tiger King and director of Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (anyone else still think about #Watergate?).
*Grabs popcorn*
So, if you've got a tense docuseries hole in your life, hold tight, here's everything we know about Bad Vegan.
This will come as a relief to anyone who's been watching the Netflix show.
Is there a trailer for Bad Vegan?
Yes! Don't get too excited though, because the Bad Vegan trailer is incredibly cryptic and hardly gives away anything about the show, though it will give you a taste of the scale of the craziness we can expect from the four instalments.
“Trust Netflix to turn a vegan documentary into a must watch crime thriller,” commented one viewer below the trailer, while another added: “Thank you Netflix for now we can switch our attention from Anna Delvey to Sarma Melngailis.”
The highs and the lows.
What is Bad Vegan about?
Now, we don't know many deets, but, as we've already hinted at, Bad Vegan follows the story of Sarma Melngailis, a real-life, celebrity restaurateur and owner of NY vegan hotspot, Pure Food and Wine.
Once referred to as the ‘queen of vegan cuisine’, Melngailis takes a big tumble from grace, and ends up as a fugitive on the run with her partner Shane Fox (real name: Anthony Strangis).
The Netflix synopsis reads: “Shortly after meeting a man named Shane Fox on Twitter in 2011, Melngailis begins draining her restaurant’s funds and funnelling the money to Fox after he cons her into believing he could make her dreams – from expanding her food empire to making her beloved pitbull immortal – a reality, but only if she continues to obey his every request without question.”
"Even such a giant like Netflix cannot violate basic human rights."
Obviously though, granting her wishes comes at a cost, as Strangis asks Melngailis to obey his every (bizarre!) request. At some point, the pair, who are now married, are found to have stolen nearly $2 million from the restaurant and its staff.
When will Bad Vegan air?
Bad Vegan was released by Netflix on 16th March – which means you can watch it now, folks. Enjoy!
