Streaming on: Disney+
Episodes viewed: 3 of 8
Riding in on a crest of shows spotlighting large-scale financial scandal, from Netflix’s Inventing Anna to the upcoming WeWork-inspired drama WeCrashed starring Jared Leto, The Dropout is a nuanced study of Elizabeth Holmes, once hailed the world's youngest self-made female billionaire. Amanda Seyfried is unshakeable as the Ivy League dropout, whose youthful ambition manifests into a relentless need to revolutionise healthcare technology. Tasked with bringing high emotional stakes to a character who habitually shields her emotions from others, she runs with the story, which spans her teenage years up until the age of 34.
Unlike a recent trend in TV storytelling that sees two, if not three, timelines approached in each episode, the series writers here thankfully stick largely to the past, only occasionally skipping forward to show Holmes on trial. However, by tethering the story to the underwhelming aesthetic of Palo Alto in the ’00s, the show is forced to lean into clunky nods to the era. Among them are some bizarre musical cues, such as a Feist song being used to score a scene in which Holmes’ much older partner Sunny (Naveen Andrews) is racially profiled.
The supporting cast are steadfast; Andrews navigates skilfully through the murky, uneasy relationship that Sunny has with Holmes, while Laurie Metcalf steals the first episode with a terse monologue that takes aim at both grammar and Yoda. A consistent highlight is Elizabeth Marvel as Holmes’ mother, especially when sharing a tense yet tender scene with Seyfried after a deftly handled instance of sexual assault.
Holmes’ pursuit of power is depicted as trance-like, with Seyfried’s eyes always straying off to the greater goal as her character’s empire crumbles around her. It’s widely publicised that Holmes is currently awaiting sentencing for defrauding her investors, but as a character study of a foreboding young woman whose rise to success is her own undoing, The Dropout is fascinating.