An easy-to-overlook element of Netflix‘s latest true-crime hit is the extent to which it’s also a period piece. Apple Cider Vinegar, the miniseries chronicling the rise and fall of Australian con-woman Belle Gibson, takes place from the early 2000s to the 2010s, with the birth of Instagram serving as a major driver of the story. The show has been hailed for its infectiously fizzy twist on the usually grim true crime genre — and much of that pop appeal, naturally, is carried by the show’s music.
“We wanted the show to be bright and colorful — very fun and of its era — so we always like music would be a big part of this,” Samantha Strauss, Apple Cider Vinegar‘s writer and creator, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So we put together a soundtrack that would take you back.”
Within minutes of Apple Cider Vinegar‘s first episode, a colorful montage sets the tone and introduces the show’s themes as its four lead actresses dance to a soundtrack blasting Britney Spears’ 2003 smash hit “Toxic.” For a show about a pathologically manipulative wellness influencer who tricks the world into believing she has brain cancer — and is curing herself with an all-natural lifestyle, “Toxic” is the superlative anthem.
“‘Toxic’ is an all-time classic that will be loved through the ages,” says Apple Cider Vinegar‘s music coordinator, Jemma Burns. “Its lyrics speak to the themes of this story on many levels, so we were completely wedded to the song,” she adds.
Apple Cider Vinegar was in development during an especially tumultuous time for Spears, however, as the pop star navigated personal ups and downs following the end of her conservatorship in 2021.
“I needed to approach Britney and her team during a sensitive time for her personally, so I was very nervous that they wouldn’t have the bandwidth to consider our request,” remembers Burns. “But the story must have resonated with them because, to our huge surprise, they said yes.”
“That was a big moment,” adds Strauss.
Strauss notes that Britney’s persona — and our cultural understanding of her —speaks to the Apple Cider Vinegar‘s themes as much as the lyrics of “Toxic” do. The show is unsparing in its portrayal of the harm Gibson caused with her grift, but it goes beyond the usual tropes of the rise-and-fall saga to find empathy for her painful backstory. The interlaced sub-narratives of the show’s supporting characters — and their all-too-human stumbles — further illuminate the show’s sharp but nuanced take on the wellness industry, with all of its propensity to both overpromise and provide genuine care.
“It could be easy to sort of go, ‘Oh, “Toxic” in a show about con-woman who pretended to have cancer, I get that — she was a toxic person,’” Strauss explains. “But Brittney is also about empathy, and our cultural experience of her is about changing our minds about things — so maybe it spoke to her that way,” the Strauss adds.
Once “Toxic” was secured for the opening, a key challenge for the rest of the soundtrack was cementing a sense of period while not sounding stale. “We’ve used music to signpost the period by including era-defining classics, being mindful of not sounding dated since it’s not that long ago,” Burns adds.
Some of Burns other favorite musical moments involve more recent tracks that have a slippery, two-sided quality to their vibe and message. For a punctuating credit-sequences moment midway through the season, she used Doja Cat’s “Paint The Town Red.”
“The song’s sweet intro leads you on, like Belle, before sucker-punching you with the reality of who she really is and how mindblowing her deceit was,” Burns explains.
Sia’s early song “Clap Your Hands,” meanwhile, was deployed to drive home another ambiguous perspective on the screen action — generating both emotion and a grey zone vibe, where so much of Apple Cider Vinegar dwells. Burns says it was used for “a moment where we feel both the excitement of what Belle has pulled off — and an underlying angst at her ruthlessness.”
Apple Cider Vinegar is currently streaming on Netflix. Read THR‘s full interviews with creator Samantha Strauss and star star Kaitlyn Dever.
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