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Apple Cider Vinegar sets about showing us the cure for cancer… not.
Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever – Bad Teacher) is first seen here, in Melbourne, in 2013, launching a new app called The Whole Pantry, telling anyone who’ll listen how she claims she was cured of Stage 4 brain cancer, yet looks so well for it. That’s because she was talking complete and utter bunkum.
Meanwhile, Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey – Into The Storm) is a young woman who gets Stage 3 cancer but follows Belle on Instagram, before having a chance encounter with the scammer in her cafe, and being told by Belle how her new book will solve all problems related to the cancer.
However things hit closer to home, as Belle’s best friend, Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey – The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart), gets aggressive tumours on her left arm, with surgeons recommending the horrific thought of amputation, then clinging to hope that “mistletoe therapy” will solve everything. Erm…
We soon get the impression how much Belle is a nasty, manipulative bitch, while she also gives occasional nods to the camera, breaking the fourth wall, such as an early one when you gets across how the real-life Belle wasn’t paid for this dramatisation.
In promising the Earth, it’s seems similar to things like Wegovy fat injections, where they claim medical intervention will solve all your problems, as opposed to eating less junk and going for some actual exercise.
She was also doing this all over Instagram from its early days. I certainly can’t do that in 2025, since some bastard hacked my account, I somehow got it back, but it tells me to input a code from Google Authenicator, even though the only way to get the QR code to match the two together… comes up once I’ve logged in!
Belle also makes reference in episode 2 to suggesting a threesome… to which we see she means adding another bloke. Come on, now. There is NOT A SINGLE STRAIGHT MAN IN THE WORLD who would want another man to complete the trio!
I’ve seen the first two of the six episodes, and it’s fine, but it all feels quite similar to 2023’s Painkiller, where we can tell events aren’t going to work out, especially in this case when we’re told in the premise how it’s all going to come crashing down around her, even though you can figure that out for yourself.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Apple Cider Vinegar is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from tomorrow.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 55-65 minutes per episode (6 episodes)
Release date: February 6th 2025
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.00:1
Director: Jeffrey Walker
Producer: Yvonne Collins
Novel: Beau Donelly, Nick Toscano (“The Woman Who Fooled the World”)
Screenplay: Samantha Strauss, Angela Betzien, Anya Beyersdorf
Music: Cornel Wilczek
Cast:
Belle Gibson: Kaitlyn Dever
Milla Blake: Alycia Debnam-Carey
Chanelle: Aisha Dee
Justin: Mark Coles Smith
Lucy: Tilda Cobham-Hervey
Arlo: Chai Hansen
Joe: Matt Nable
Sean: Richard Davies
Clive: Ashley Zukerman
Tamara: Susie Porter
Hek: Phoenix Raei
Belle’s Son (4.5 years): Spencer Ellis Anderson
Julie: Catherine McClements
Belle (12 years): Sunny Darcy-Smith
Jeremy: Hamish Michael
Poh: Jillian Nguyen
Dr. Chidiac: Doris Younane
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.