X
- 2022
- TV-MA
- Netflix
- 2022
- TV-MA
- Netflix
Summary The four-part documentary from Chris Smith looks into how "Vegan Queen" Sarma Melngailis, became known as the "Vegan Fugitive" after meeting a man named Shane Fox in 2011.
- 2022
- TV-MA
- Netflix
- 2022
- TV-MA
- Netflix
Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
Season 1 Premiere: Mar 16, 2022
72
4.2
Where to Watch
Summary The four-part documentary from Chris Smith looks into how "Vegan Queen" Sarma Melngailis, became known as the "Vegan Fugitive" after meeting a man named Shane Fox in 2011.
Where to Watch
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
72
70% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
30% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
72
70% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
30% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Well-paced and efficient, Bad Vegan sucks you into Melngailis's personal drama and keeps you there.
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.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 User Ratings
4.2
11% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
56% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
33% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 User Ratings
4.2
11% Positive
1 Rating
1 Rating
56% Mixed
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
33% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Compelling endeavor. ... What emerges, then, is a concept of Melngailis as a woman who wasn’t just painfully gullible, and therefore susceptible to Strangis’ cult guru-like charms, but a self-interested huckster and dreamer who was constantly angling to keep herself afloat by any means necessary.
There’s a healthy dose of skepticism in “Bad Vegan” that helps it avoid framing this saga as a love story gone wrong, and maybe its most insightful decision is to emphasize how numbing that ratcheting strain becomes on Sarma herself.
We really wish Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. was less one-sided, but at least the side we see makes for an entertaining story.
The elusiveness of answers about “why” — and the inability, then, to make “Bad Vegan” about bigger questions about truth or even about the specifics of Melngailis’ world — make the docuseries grow, eventually, frustrating; four hours is a long time to spend running through a specific set of facts with a hard limit as to how far we can explore.
Bad Vegan, however, is a voyeuristically compelling story that’s ultimately more sad than scandalous. It left me feeling queasy and guilty, like I’d eaten an entire Domino's pizza with a side order of chicken wings.
Production Company:
Initial Release Date: Mar 16, 2022
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Genres:
Awards
Hollywood Critics Association Television Awards
• 1 Nomination