Scammers, Swindlers, and Stalkers: The Ultimate Streaming Guide
People do not always turn out to be who they say they are, or at least that seems to be a lesson many of us are learning over and over again these past couple of years.
We had Anna Delvey grifting her way through the scene in SoHo. Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman allegedly scammed their kids into elite universities, which is an A-list level scam we now refer to as Operation Varsity Blues. There was the whole Fyre Fest fiasco, which inspired not only one but two competing documentaries about the influencer nightmare. And now there’s another long con playing out in front of our very eyes. There are so many scams, and so little time to keep up with them all. But if you’re someone who isn’t totally over the drama yet, you are likely looking to turn to entertainment to get your fill. While Hustlers is one of the “true crime” swindling stories in theaters right now that you could see, there are still plenty of other films that tackle the subject available to stream at home. Find out what to watch, and where to watch it, here.
A Simple Favor
A Simple Favor is the obvious filmic answer to a certain social media “scam” that’s made the rounds in the tabloids recently. Two mothers—one mommy vlogger played by Anna Kendrick and the other a mysterious businesswoman played by Blake Lively—become deeply entwined in one other’s lives until the latter randomly goes missing one day. Come for Lively’s many, many suits, stay for the alt-comedy cameos. Also, this movie is camp.
Where to watch: Hulu
JT LeRoy
A movie about a real-life literary scam? Starring Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern? We absolutely do love to see it. In the film, Stewart plays Savannah Knoop, who disguises herself as JT LeRoy, Laura Albert’s (Dern) literary persona in the ’90s, until the truth finally comes out in the early 2000s. It’s kind of like Cyrano de Bergerac meets that other literary scam everybody is still talking about right now.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a classic. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel of the same name (which also marks the beginning of an entire series about the character), the 1999 film is a psychological thriller that features a lying, scheming, obsessive antihero (Matt Damon) who plots to steal the identity of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) (and whose sexuality has been the subject of scrutiny for decades).
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
To Sleep with Anger
They say all stories either start with a character embarking on a journey, or a stranger coming to town. To Sleep with Anger is in the latter camp. Charles Burnett’s 1990 film about Harry (Danny Glover) a superstitious “old friend” of a family that has moved to South Central, Los Angeles from the rural south. Harry rolls back into town to shake things up, and chaos ensues, naturally. Can Harry be trusted? Is he really who he says he is? And why is he causing problems in this family’s life when he’s supposed to be one of them? You have to stream it to find out.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Single White Female
In the 1992 film starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh, which is based on John Lutz’s SWF Seeks Same novel from two years prior, one woman puts out an ad for a new roommate, but what she gets is an obsessive stalker-type who tries to become her. Nearly 20 years later, The Roommate (a remake of sorts starring Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly) was released. And now, everybody is so familiar with Single White Female that it’s become a verb of sorts to describe certain obsessive behaviors.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime or Showtime Anytime
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