Netflix has yet another true crime hit on their hands, and this one has reached a rare achievement. The streamer’s new four-part docuseries Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. just debuted on the streaming platform back on Wednesday, March 16, and it has not only shot to the top of the streaming charts, outpacing titles like Inventing Anna and Good Girls, but has also received a rare 100% perfect Rotten Tomatoes score.
The critics score was aggregated out of a total of 15 reviews. Giving it a “STREAM IT” consensus, Decider wrote that Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. “has the sensationalistic vibe of the two most famous docuseries Smith was involved with – Tiger King and Fyre,” and while the outlet said they wish the series “was less one-sided,” they added that “at least the side we see makes for an entertaining story.” Giving the series a rating of 8 out of 10, TV Guide wrote, “while most true-crime documentaries rely on the heinous, grisly, and gruesome for kicks, Bad Vegan captures a substantive story with a lesson we can all chew on.” Meanwhile, TIME Magazine dubbed Bad Vegan “a wild true-crime tale for an era of misinformation.”
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Premiering on the streamer on March 16, Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. chronicles the downfall of celebrity restaurateur Sarma Melngailis. Melngailis was the celebrity restaurateur behind the glittering New York hotspot Pure Food and Wine before she “went from being the queen of vegan cuisine to being known as the ‘Vegan Fugitive.’” After meeting a man named Shane Fox on Twitter in 2011, Melngailis began draining her restaurant’s funds and funneling the money to Fox after he conned her into believing he could fulfill her dreams, including everything from expanding her food empire to making her beloved pitbull immortal. After stealing $2 million from the restaurant and its staff, however, the two were eventually caught by police after they made a charge under Fox’s real name for a Domino’s pizza.
Hailing from Chris Smith, the executive producer of Tiger King and director of Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened, Bad Vegan has enjoyed success outside of its Rotten Tomatoes rating. As of this posting, the series ranks as the No. 3 title among both movies and series on Netflix in the U.S., only falling behind The Adam Project and Is It Cake?. Worldwide, the series ranked as No. 7 as of March 21, according to FlixPatrol data.
Despite its stellar critics’ rating and the number of viewers apparently tuning in, Bad Vegan has only managed to secure a 27% rating among audience members on Rotten Tomatoes. That rating makes the series certified rotten among the audience. Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. is available for streaming on Netflix.
