There have been tons of documentaries in recent years about famous scams and scandals. Pop culture fans were riveted by the 2019 Netflix doc Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened along with Hulu's Fyre Fraud. Then in 2021, Netflix released Operation Varsity Blues, the documentary about the college admissions scandal.

There is another well-known scandal and that's Elizabeth Holmes and her blood testing technology company Theranos. While Elizabeth said that she had created a medical device called the Edison that would diagnose people with one drop of blood on the tip of their finger, the machine didn't work. When watching the recent Hulu series The Dropout, viewers can see that the true story behind this fictional version is as scary as a horror film.

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Amanda Seyfried plays Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout and fans and critics are absolutely loving it. Each episode moves the true story along, showing Elizabeth at Stanford where she tries to bring her big ideas to teachers and potential mentors. Elizabeth leaves school, moves into a sketchy and gross office, and when she faces removal from the board and her own company, she gets Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews) to invest $20 million and join the company. Knowing that this is a true story and that so many people's lives have been changed and in some cases ruined by this situation makes The Dropout a horror story.

Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout

Throughout every episode of The Dropout that has been available for streaming so far, Elizabeth forges full steam ahead with her ideas and desires without thinking about consequences or the fact that the device doesn't really exist. The tone of the Hulu series is like a thriller, as viewers are constantly shocked by what is happening. Even though many people know much of the story and have listened to the podcast, read the book Bad Blood, or seen the HBO documentary The Inventor, it's still interesting to keep tuning in and learning more. It's impossible to think of a better actor for the main role. Amanda Seyfried's many movie roles, including horror movies like Gone and Things Heard & Seen, show how well she can inhabit a role, even a tough and tricky one.

The Dropout's first three episodes are particularly strong, with perhaps the scariest thing happening in the first episode "I'm In A Hurry." When Elizabeth presents her idea for a medical device to Dr. Phyllis Gardner (Laurie Metcalf), Dr. Gardner says no, Elizabeth isn't ready yet and she still has so much to learn. It's exactly what Elizabeth needs to hear. She is still so young and she has years of learning, research, and listening to other people ahead of her... or at least that's what should happen. Instead, as viewers see, Elizabeth thinks that Dr. Gardner is a jerk and tries to find someone else who will believe in her idea. Knowing what actually happens and how the device isn't ever going to work makes this scene so chilling and hard to watch.

There's also Ian Gibbons, the incredibly sweet, charming, and intelligent head of chemistry who sadly took his life before he had to testify in court. Reading about this in the news was devastating and it's heartbreaking to get to know Stephen Fry's character in The Dropout and then watch his wife (played by Kate Burton) learn of his death and grieve the terrible loss. This character is a harsh and horrible reminder of the reality of this situation. While it's an entertaining miniseries, it's also something that really happened, and it's impossible not to feel heartbroken when thinking about Ian.

Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in college talking on the phone in The Dropout

There are so many moments in The Dropout's episodes that have come out so far where people try to warn Elizabeth. When Elizabeth signs Theranos up for a trial with real cancer patients, her employees are incredibly upset. Elizabeth Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud and conspiracy, and according to The Guardian, she will be sentenced in September 2022. Since viewers know the real outcome, it makes watching every scene in The Dropout terrifying. It's a trainwreck unfolding in front of audience's eyes: making deals with Walgreens and Safeway when the device keeps dissolving into smoke and when the scientists keep telling Elizabeth that they need a lot more time to do research and trial and error. When other characters are skeptical and wonder what's happening, Elizabeth says that she can't tell them anything and she avoids many direct questions and confrontations.

People say that truth is stranger than fiction, and in the case of the story of Theranos, that definitely seems to be the case. Many people worked at the company and truly believed in it, wanting to help change the world of healthcare, but they ended up leaving early after the stress and overwhelm was too much or they stuck it out until the end.

Theranos shut down in 2018, according to the Wall Street Journal, after a few years of people questioning whether it was FDA approved and what was really going on. Fans of The Dropout will watch the last few episodes, knowing the horror and destruction that has already happened.

NEXT: The Dropout Episode 4 Review