Apple Cider Vinegar is a 2025 Australian drama television limited series released on Netflix and produced by See-Saw Films, based on the 2017 book The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano. It stars Kaitlyn Dever and Alycia Debnam-Carey as wellness guru Belle Gibson and Milla Blake, respectively, who use their platforms to promote alternative medicine. Gibson fools her following and the world with a fake cancer diagnosis, while Milla convinces her mother to join her in eschewing scientifically prescribed medical treatment. The series received generally positive reviews.
Contents
Premise
The show follows Belle Gibson as she commits fraud by pretending to have cancer to promote alternative medicine. Gibson launches a wellness recipe app and cookbook, but soon her lies are uncovered.
Cast
Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson
Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla Blake (based on Jessica Ainscough)
Aisha Dee as Chanelle, Milla's friend and Belle's assistant
Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Lucy, cancer patient and fan of Belle
Mark Coles Smith as Justin Guthrie, Lucy's husband
Ashley Zukerman as Clive, Belle's partner
Phoenix Raei as Hek, crisis manager
Susie Porter as Tamara, Milla's mother
Matt Nable as Joe, Milla's dad
Catherine McClements as Julie, Belle's book publisher
Essie Davis as Natalie, Belle's mother
Chai Hansen as Arlo, Milla's partner
Richard Davies as Sean (a reporter working alongside Justin)
Edwina Wren as Fiona, the mother of the brain cancer-illed boy.
Kieran Darcy-Smith as Andrew Dal-Bello
Doris Younane as Dr. Chidiac
Sibylla Budd as Tara Brown (60 minutes reporter for Channel 9)
Jeremy Stanford as Dr. Walsh
Kate Lister as Jordan
Victoria Eagger as Nurse Victoria
Thom Green as Lenny
Maude Davey as Margaret
Production
Samantha Strauss created Apple Cider Vinegar and wrote the series with Anya Beyersdorf and Angela Betzien. The series is based on the 2017 book The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano. All episodes are directed by Jeffrey Walker, while Walker and executives at production companies See-Saw Films and Picking Scabs, along with Dever, serve as executive producers.
On 15 December 2023, it was announced that the series had gone into production. The series filmed in and around Melbourne, Australia with funding secured from Screen Australia and VicScreen.
The trailer was released on 19 November 2024. A second trailer for the series was released on 16 January 2025, with a release date of 6 February 2025.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 61 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Coating its tart tale in a sugary veneer, Apple Cider Vinegar's indictment of snake oil influencers finds a memorable avatar in Kaitlyn Dever's crisp performance." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 70 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.