“[With the title] I wanted something that would capture this idea of hope in a bottle and that could be a bigger umbrella than something that would relate only to Belle,” Strauss told Netflix’s Tudum.
Who Is Belle Gibson?
The plot follows Belle Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), an influencer who gained notoriety after claiming she was facing terminal brain cancer and had overcome the disease using only a natural diet and alternative treatments. Her inspiring journey led to the success of her health app The Whole Pantry and her book of the same name, making her a reference in the world of wellness and healthy eating.
The series initially alternates between three distinct periods: the beginning of Belle’s fraud when she started building her false narrative; the period in which Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), a follower, starts blindly trusting the influencer, while Chanelle (Aisha Dee) and Milla (Alycia Debnam-Carey) begin to question her and the moment when Belle attempts to restore her reputation after being exposed.
Milla Blake, a talented journalist working for the respected Girlfriend magazine, discovers a tumor in her arm and decides to pursue alternative medicine, rejecting amputation. Initially, Milla believes she is cured, but the disease spreads, and in the end, she requires palliative care.
Meanwhile, Lucy also gets involved in Belle’s world. Her husband, Justin, tries to warn her about the dangers of following advice from an influencer without medical training. “I’m not going to let an influencer with a nose piercing ignore years of real medical research,” he says. But Lucy remains fascinated by Belle’s alternative healing promises.
Belle, in turn, manipulates her narrative to keep profiting. She gets closer to Milla and uses her as a reference to build her own brand, even going so far as to copy her personality and story. Belle, in fact, is envious of Milla’s fame, and her jealousy grows as she watches Milla’s success. As Belle’s lies become more elaborate, Milla begins to notice inconsistencies in Belle’s story and starts investigating her, with the help of Chanelle, a former business associate of the influencer.
