Another day another biopic limited series about a super successful narcissist scammer. From Super Pumped to Reinventing Anna, docudramas are on the rise in the streaming wars. And who can blame the studios - these kind of tales make for compelling, binge worthy television.

 

But The Dropout stands head and shoulders above the rest. While other docudramas give merely a summary of the events, The Dropout delves deep into the character of Elizabeth Holmes through Seyfried in her greatest and most challenging role to date.

Money. Romance. Tragedy. Deception. From Executive Producer Elizabeth Meriwether, The Dropout is the story of Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) and Theranos, an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong. How did the world’s youngest self-made billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye?

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We enter into the world of Holmes and Theranos through a series of flashbacks and begin to discover the motivations and inner workings of the protagonist. From her determination to finish a running race as a child that she's clearly lost to obsessively trying to converse in Mandarin with her American friends during a student exchange we begin to see her strange behaviour and obsession to win - whatever the cost. 

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And this is where the strength of The Dropout truly lies. It doesn't just feed us the headlines that we already are aware of and nor does it attempt to be an apologist for Holmes either. We see her for who she really is flawed, obsessive, strange and kinda brilliant. 

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Amanda Seyfriend is quite brilliant in the lead role. In the hands of another actress their may have been the temptation to play up the more bizarre elements of Holmes' character, but Seyfriend grounds her performance, humanizing Holmes before our very eyes. 

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While other docudramas give merely a summary of the events, The Dropout delves deep into the character of Elizabeth Holmes through Seyfried in her greatest and most challenging role to date.