Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal is ‘crazy’, ‘wild’ and ‘enraging’

Today, Netflix released a new true crime documentary – Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal. The film looks at the 2019 case which shook the US, and saw over 50 people charged with fraudulently getting students admitted to elite colleges.

Among those arrested were a number of celebrities and reputable figures who were desperate to get their children into the best institutions so lied to and bribed those who could make that happen. The lies included pretending their children were good at sports and cheating on entrance exams.

Here’s everything you need to know about the documentary film, including early reviews from people who have already watched it and what people have been saying about it.

What is Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal on Netflix about?

The Netflix documentary is just over an hour and a half, and looks into the 2019 scandal which was labelled by police as “Operation Varsity Blues”. The whole scheme was led by William “Rick” Singer, a college-prep professional, who pleaded guilty to the charges made against him. Parents are said to have paid Singer around $25 million to bribe coaches and university administrators and cheat on exams so their kids could get into their chosen colleges.

Singer used two main scams – helping students cheat to get incredible exams scores and creating false sports resumes to get them in. Parents would pay for his services by donating to his foundation.

The Netflix doc promises an examination that goes beyond the celebrity-driven headlines and dives into the methods used by Rick Singer. Singer was able to persuade his wealthy clients to cheat an educational system already designed to benefit the privileged.

Using a combination of interviews and narrative recreations of the FBI’s wiretapped conversations between Singer and his clients, Operation Varsity Blues offers a rare glimpse into the enigmatic figure behind a scheme that exposed the lengths wealthy families would go to for admission into elite colleges, and angered a nation already grappling with the effects of widespread inequality.

The documentary is from Chris Smith and Jon Karmen, the filmmakers behind Fyre. It contains recreations with an actor playing Singer, but everything you hear is real life conversations, word for word, that police have on record.

Reviews are calling the documentary ‘gripping’  and ‘crazy’

Early reviews of the documentary all seem pretty impressed with it. Variety calls the film “engrossing” saying the creator “nails it all” in an “innovative and compelling way”. Mashable adds that it will “enlighten and enrage you” and is “a gripping look at how one of the biggest public scandals in recent memory came to pass.”

Daily Beast says the doc “goes beyond actresses like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who bribed their children’s way into college, to focus on the corrupt system” and is an “eye-opener”.

People on Twitter have also been having their say, sharing that they have found the documentary “wild”, “disgusting” and “crazy”.

Watch the trailer for Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal on Netflix here:

Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, quizzes, drops and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Operation Varsity Blues: All the celebrities involved in the college admissions scandal

• Ranked: The best true crime documentaries on Netflix, according to Rotten Tomatoes

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