Seyfried excels in Hulu's new Elizabeth Holmes series
America's obsession over disgraced Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes isn't going anywhere soon.
Hulu's addictive dramatized series “The Dropout” debuts today, focusing on Holmes and the doomed startup Theranos, a Palo Alto-based health tech company she founded on an unproven concept. Expect the series to kick up such cultural memes as “George Shultz's grandson” (a whistleblower within the company) and “Fuki Sushi” (tagged as “the premier sushi restaurant in town”) and drag viewers down one rabbit hole after another.
The good news is that the eight-episode series is worth your time: an entertaining, sly and informative adaptation of the popular ABC News podcast of the same name.
Still, showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether's production has to face the question: After a highly publicized and exhaustively analyzed real-life trial, an HBO documentary from Alex Gibney and an investigative nonfiction bestseller written by the Wall Street Journal reporter who first broke the story — not to mention countless articles and other accounts of Holmes' spectacular rise and fall — is there really anything new to take from this series?
Well, no. But what we're left with is a meat-and-potatoes narrative that still makes for an absorbing and occasionally insightful series that reflects on the kind out-of-control ambition that often leads to disaster in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, especially when it takes root in an environment where fudging on details and ethics is unchecked.
What anchors “The Dropout” are its two main assets: a blood-freezing performance from Amanda Seyfried as Holmes, and an easy-to-digest narrative on the scrappy East Palo Alto startup that ballooned into a sprawling multimilliondollar business where workers signed ironclad nondisclosure agreements and researchers started realizing it was all a house of cards.
Seyfried's transformation into Holmes is eerie. With her wide eyes and carefully curated Katy Perry-esque voice, she makes an ideal, enigmatic Stanford University dropout who, as she's portrayed here, is socially clumsy but intensely competitive. (The opening episode finds Holmes scarred after she finishes last in a race and is mocked by her classmates.)
Seyfried excels at conveying Holmes' awkwardness and later her icy, cutthroat workplace demeanor, black turtlenecks and all. The series is directed with care, particularly by Michael Showalter, who helms four of the eight episodes, including the standout fourth episode, “Old White Men,” wherein Holmes and her extravagantly wealthy lover and eventual business partner Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani (Naveen Andrews) court Walgreens honchos but won't let them see the research center or test the machines.
The series is framed often around Holmes' own testimony, and ventures into how she confronted a bro culture that was eager to dismiss her during Theranos' investment phase. But “The Dropout” steers clear of claiming that sexism was the sole reason why Holmes acted as she did, although it cannot be ignored as a contributor.
One of the best moments happens early in the series during a heated exchange between then-Stanford student Holmes and Stanford professor of medicine Phyllis Gardner (Laurie Metcalf, stealing every short scene she's in). Gardner, as she's portrayed here, knows well how challenging it is to be a woman in male-dominated corridors of power.
Holmes seeks her help in fast-tracking her plans and concepts. At one point, Holmes quotes Yoda from “Star Wars.” Gardner retorts: “Don't quote Yoda ever again.” In future scenes, Yoda sayings, along with other motivational messages, can be found written on the walls of Theranos headquarters.
It's the smaller moments that give us more insight into Holmes' psyche, along with the exchanges she has with her investors, co-workers and even family members. Hearing her belt out a Katy Perry song and then talking like Perry later on says volumes about who she is and who she isn't.
Seyfried's terrific performance is made stronger by the cast surrounding her, including Stephen Fry as Theranos main scientist Ian Gibbons, an early supporter who grows to doubt the veracity of Holmes' claims and intentions; Sam Waterston as George Shultz; Dylan Minnette as Shultz's whistleblowing grandson Tyler; and William H. Macy as Holmes' neighbor who sues her and others.
“The Dropout” isn't the definitive portrait of a beleaguered tech figure. Nor is it the only one making the rounds — there's Showtime's “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” and the upcoming “WeCrashed” on Apple TV+. But “Dropout” does feed our curiosity, while reminding us that when things seem too good to be true, they probably are.