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Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.

  • TV Mini Series
  • 2022
  • TV-MA
  • 52m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
8.7K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,661
10,178
Sarma Melngailis in Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. (2022)
A scandalous four-part documentary series that uncovers how Sarma Melngailis, the celebrity restaurateur behind the New York hotspot Pure Food and Wine, went from being the queen of vegan cuisine to the tabloid-touted "Vegan Fugitive" when she falls for a man who promises to make her dreams come true. Millions of dollars, immortal dogs, meat suits, and secrets lead to a twisted tale of love turned criminal.
Play trailer2:15
2 Videos
18 Photos
Crime DocumentaryTrue CrimeCrimeDocumentary

After marrying a mysterious man who claimed he could make her dog immortal, a celebrated vegan restaurateur finds her life veering off the rails.After marrying a mysterious man who claimed he could make her dog immortal, a celebrated vegan restaurateur finds her life veering off the rails.After marrying a mysterious man who claimed he could make her dog immortal, a celebrated vegan restaurateur finds her life veering off the rails.

  • Stars
    • Sarma Melngailis
    • Allen Salkin
    • Ilze Melngailis
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    8.7K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,661
    10,178
    • Stars
      • Sarma Melngailis
      • Allen Salkin
      • Ilze Melngailis
    • 256User reviews
    • 20Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Episodes4

    Browse episodes
    TopTop-rated1 season2022

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:15
    Official Trailer
    Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
    Trailer 2:12
    Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
    Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
    Trailer 2:12
    Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.

    Photos18

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    Top cast23

    Edit
    Sarma Melngailis
    Sarma Melngailis
    • Self - Pure Food and Wine, One Lucky Duck
    • 2022
    Allen Salkin
    Allen Salkin
    • Self - Vanity Fair Journalist
    • 2022
    Ilze Melngailis
    Ilze Melngailis
    • Self - Sarma's Sister
    • 2022
    Bonnie Crocker
    Bonnie Crocker
    • Self - Manager, Pure Food and Wine
    • 2022
    John Melngailis
    John Melngailis
    • Self - Sarma's Father
    • 2022
    Joey Repice
    Joey Repice
    • Self - Beverage Director, Pure Food and Wine
    • 2022
    Nikki King Bennett
    Nikki King Bennett
    • Self - Executive Chef, Pure Food and Wine
    • 2022
    Jim Switzer
    Jim Switzer
    • Self - Operations Manager, Pure Food and Wine
    • 2022
    Jeffrey Chodorow
    Jeffrey Chodorow
    • Self - Restaurateur
    • 2022
    Andrew Elliot
    Andrew Elliot
    • Self - Graphic Designer, One Lucky Duck
    • 2022
    Maiquen Saez-Vega
    Maiquen Saez-Vega
    • Self - Employee, Pure Food and Wine
    • 2022
    Igor Malinovsky
    Igor Malinovsky
    • Anthony Stand-In
    Nazim Seliakhov
    Nazim Seliakhov
    • Self - Anthony's Associate
    • 2022
    Nick Ross
    Nick Ross
    • Self - Employee, Pure Food and Wine
    • 2022
    Will Richards
    Will Richards
    • Self - Anthony's Associate
    • 2022
    Anthony Caruana
    Anthony Caruana
    • Self - Sarma's Friend
    • 2022
    Stacy Strangis
    Stacy Strangis
    • Self - Anthony's Ex-Wife
    • 2022
    Dustin Hall
    Dustin Hall
    • Self - Sarma's Friend
    • 2022
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews256

    5.98.6K
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    Featured reviews

    5kosmasp

    Stretching it

    These real life crime shows are stretching it ... well at least in this case. The Investigating Anna show was quite good - I think even those who thought it was a bit too long, saw the quality in it. And while this is only half as long (episode and especially running time wise) as that show - this feels even longer and ... well more boring.

    No offense to those involved (guilty or innocent), but I feel like this could have been wrapped up in two episodes the most. Also do not expect there to be much of a likeability factor. Fans of this type of stuff may not care, but those who do not have time to waste, should stick to other stuff imho.
    ts-0000

    Ugh!

    Bad guy,meets a stupid girl(becomes clear on her judgment skills,as you watch it)& together they do even worse things & eventually face consequences.. The end.

    Honestly the only victims here was everyone but actually them,including the dog!

    As a women & that's been in bad a relationship,eventually either you take some accountability and change things or you are responsible!

    She had a business,was an adult & so much other nonsense but never tried stopping it.. therefore she wasn't a victim but only played a victim after it all came crashing down,to get some sympathy for her role in all this.

    For those who feel she was brainwashed,if this was fact in even the slightest way.. Than how come she didn't seem genuinely remorseful,especially for those also hurt by all this?

    It was odd how her meltdowns & more,was recorded as though to use later in some lame defense? She said that she was alone frequently while traveling,but yet never left or got help.

    Had me wondering if she wouldn't of been a cute,white,blonde would she of been held more liable? It really seemed she had men especially brainwashed,if you listen to them during their interview parts.. I might be reaching to say that,but after hearing the homeless guy he seemed unhinged over her.

    Again.. Why feel she wasn't a true victim,but only played that card at opportune times.

    Is this watch worthy? Well,felt like a train wreck you can't look away from.. So enjoy!
    4peeps_ahoy

    I wanted to like it, but it takes forever to go nowhere. Disingenuous

    4 episodes is way too long. There is so much redundancy or things that are drawn out. There is no twist, conclusion, or closure.

    The series is absolutely biased toward Sarma. Most of it is her telling her side of the story - whether it's truth is another thing entirely.

    Speaking of what's true or not, I can't wrap my head around someone actually believing the supernatural claims she supposedly did. Making her dog immortal? Making her some non-human queen? What?! And she doesn't even acknowledge that she believed those things, really. She brushes EVERYTHING off by basically saying "I don't know why, I just did though." I do find the story itself interesting to an extent. But this presentation is extremely overdrawn and very disingenuous and emotionally manipulative.

    This could have been made a short movie or 2 episodes, instead it's 4 hour-long episodes. I can't in good conscience recommend anyone invest that amount of time into this.
    6yooniverse

    Run-of-the-mill long con

    This would be a mediocre story about a woman who falls for a run-of-the-mill con game, but perhaps people need to have a little sympathy that this happened to a real person, not an actor in a drama.

    This show is framed as a documentary, but it's more like a docufiction that's based on a true story. You don't get his side of the story (for whatever that's worth), and you may argue how much of her vulnerability was caused by her loneliness and naivete (as she claims), or her trying to dig herself out of a hole she created that the con exploited.

    She doesn't come across in the show as someone you would feel much sympathy for--a privileged, beautiful, Wharton business school grad, engaged in the pop culture foodie scene with celebrity connections, who falls from grace, ensnared by a ludicrous con man. But part of that is that this happened during a vulnerable time (emotional and/or financial?), which should be understandable. We can't really be a judge of how stressful it becomes when playing with big stakes, and the stupid things we do when we're trapped. And once we're trapped, we're trapped--and that's the point, I suppose. It's embarrassing, shameful, and cringy for us to watch, but I'd imagine it's more so to have to tell the story herself.

    It's about as exciting as watching a train wreck in slow motion, a vegan version of Holmes and Theranos, but there are far worse shows out there.
    8Valid_ID

    From bad, to worse decisions

    I think the main appeal of this docuseries is to see how con artists are getting caught. We all hope that karma will pick up where human justice fails.

    The question whether Sarma was guilty or not is moot, IMO. Like everyone, she is flawed, and at the very least she made some very bad decisions.

    What's more interesting is the extent to which intelligent, educated individuals fall pray to scams, and are dragged into questionable deeds, and from there into worse situations.

    In this debacle, I sympathize with Sarma's father, who seems the most decent fellow in the story, and the one with the clearest understanding of what happened. He admitted his daughter was on the run when she disappeared, and even recognized the fact that Sarma married Anthony for his money.

    I definitely found this documentary worth watching.

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 16, 2022 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • النباتية الزائفة: شهرة واحتيال وهروب
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      52 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Atmos
    • Aspect ratio
      • 16:9 HD

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