Crime
Long Bright River
Long Bright River is a fairly standard mystery thriller with a big theme at its core: choices. But its problematic content makes it a touch choice to watch.
I was given six weeks to live, four months tops.
That’s what Belle Gibson tells her thousands of followers on social media. It’s what she tells her publisher, manager, friends and even her partner, Clive Rothwell.
It’s how Belle builds her brand, The Whole Pantry. She alleges that by eating a very curated list of natural foods and practicing alternative medicine, she has cured her cancer.
Belle is lying.
Of course, Belle isn’t the first one. Then again, Milla Blake, Belle’s inspiration and chief competitor, isn’t so much a liar as she is just woefully gullible.
When Milla receives her very real cancer diagnosis, it’s contained to her arm. Her doctors say her best chance of survival is to amputate the diseased limb. But Milla is unwilling to accept that prognosis. Understandably, she wants to keep her arm and beat cancer.
So Milla goes to a specialized naturopathy clinic in Mexico. There, she drinks nothing but fresh-squeezed juice and undergoes five coffee enemas per day. Miraculously and inexplicably, Milla starts feeling better. Her cancer goes into remission. And she truly believes she has beaten cancer her way.
Milla writes about her journey on her blog. She’s able to turn that blog into a book deal. And soon, thousands of people are following Milla on social media.
That’s how Belle finds her and gets the idea to begin practicing natural medicine herself.
But unlike Milla, Belle isn’t sick. And she hasn’t found a way to treat cancer either. (For that matter, neither has Milla. Her preferred treatment fails to save somebody close to her, and later, Milla’s own cancer returns.) However, Milla isn’t intentionally leading people astray. She’s just the blind leading the blind.
No, Belle is simply a narcissist looking for a way to get attention and get rich. And if that means she needs to fake a few seizures along the way, so be it.
Apple Cider Vinegar isn’t the story of a young woman who tells a lie that gets out of control. Belle knows what she’s doing from the get-go. Every time someone catches her in a lie, she just tells another one, manipulating emotions until she gets the response she wants. She has countless opportunities to come clean.
She just doesn’t want to.
No, this show—which, though inspired by a true story, can’t technically be corroborated since the real Belle Gibson wasn’t paid for this recreation—is a cautionary tale of what happens when you have the hubris to believe nobody will expose you for what you are.
Unfortunately, it also comes with a few cautions for viewers, too.
Sadly, we see the effects of cancer on a multitude of patients. Some undergo traditional medical treatments, such as surgery, chemo and radiation. Others try more homeopathic remedies. And a few even resort to witch doctors and psychedelic drugs. We hear quite a bit of debate about which method is better. But it becomes tragically clear that neither Belle nor even Milla should be offering medical advice, since neither is a medical professional.
It’s also worth noting that a woman miscarries at 23 weeks of pregnancy. She is induced and gives birth to a stillborn daughter. And this life event traumatizes her and her child’s father.
Language is another big concern here, with multiple uses of the f-word each episode. We see quite a bit of skin in both sexual and nonsexual situations, and many characters having sex are unwed. In one scene, a doctor’s gloved hand covers a woman’s breast as she’s prepped for a mastectomy. Couples, including one same-sex couple, kiss and make out. Female characters frequently wear revealing outfits. Alcohol use can be found in most episodes, and a few also depict the use of cocaine.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
A woman falsely claims that she cured herself of cancer through her diet. She tells real cancer patients that doctors are ignorant and should be ignored. When she’s exposed as a fraud, her online followers respond with angry messages, some hoping she dies of cancer and others allegedly issuing death threats. But the woman continues to lie throughout the episode.
Couples kiss and dance together. One couple makes out on a bed. A video shows two women kissing. People wear swimsuits. Several women wear cleavage-baring outfits and short skirts. We also see several women exercising in sports bras and yoga pants. Someone watches a video of a woman who has only one leg performing a pole dance (though it’s not meant to be sexual).
A man finds a lump—which turns out to be cancerous—on his wife’s breast (his hand moves under her shirt) as they cuddle in bed. Later, we see doctors prepping her for surgery, drawing lines on her skin, a gloved hand covering her breast. We see more of her battle with cancer as she undergoes radiation and chemo treatments. She eventually loses her hair.
Large lumps grow on a woman’s arm, and she soon learns they are cancerous. She declines doctors’ recommendations partially because she doesn’t want to experience the same pain her grandmother did (who also had cancer) and partially because she believes her online research to be more credible than the doctors.
A pregnant woman lies to a salesclerk, saying she’s not sure if her baby will make it, in order to manipulate the clerk into giving her a refund. In an unrelated incident, her mom and all her friends bail on her baby shower, which she had to throw for herself since nobody had volunteered.
A hysterical woman tells doctors that she has an unbearable pain in her head, and she begs them to examine and diagnose her. A closeup shows a syringe entering someone’s skin. Cancer patients receive a variety of treatments. One woman, exhausted from a recent treatment, collapses on some stairs.
Someone leads a yoga session. There’s a statue of Buddha at a health retreat. A nurse wears a hijab. People talk about good and bad energy. A man sings lyrics that translate as “Light from Light, God from God.” A woman says the world is magical.
People drink throughout the episode. Someone cuts off a snake’s head.
There are seven uses of the f-word and two of the s-word. We also hear “b–ch,” “d–mit” and “p-ss.” Someone uses a crude gesture. God’s name is misused twice.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Long Bright River is a fairly standard mystery thriller with a big theme at its core: choices. But its problematic content makes it a touch choice to watch.
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