Anne Hathaway And Jared Leto's Chaotic Apple TV Miniseries Is Worth Your Time

Summer is swiftly approaching. A new slate of TV shows will soon premiere, but viewers are advised to look back into Apple's catalog, where they'll find a true story that continues to haunt the corporate world. "WeCrashed," which debuted on AppleTV+ in 2022, chronicles the Icarian rise and fall of Adam Neumann, the famed WeWork executive whose reckless ambition saw him go from helming a $47 billion startup to unemployed in a matter of weeks.

Based on the eponymous Wondery podcast, the show harnesses the collective powers of its all-star cast to deliver a dramatic tale that, while potentially constrained by its subject matter, delivers more than the run of the mill startup drama. Instead, "WeCrashed" is a toxic romance as poisonous as WeWork's financial statements.

The story follows Neumann, played by Jared Leto, as he builds himself into a messianic corporate ideologue, composed of equal parts spiritual guru, party animal, and snake oil salesman. Buoying his rise is his wife Rebekah, an actress-turned-kingmaker who serves as the spiritual backbone of both WeWork and its lead executive's ambitions. Brilliantly depicted by Anne Hathaway, Rebekah Neumann brings an energy more suited for a cult compound than a boardroom. Somehow a larger personality than the Kaiju she plays in "Colossal," Hathaway elevates "WeCrashed" into a Bonnie and Clyde tale of corporate malfeasance that strikes at the center of the grow-at-any-cost paradigm plaguing our social, political, and economic institutions. Somehow, when Rebekah tells Adam "you're a supernova," you can't help but believe her. Unfortunately, you're also left wondering if she understands the destructive power the dying stars wield. 

On its surface, "WeCrashed" is another in a line of startup-disaster tales. Created by Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello, the converted podcast tells the familiar story of an ambitious CEO building a glass empire on a pile of runaway spending and uncontrolled debt. It's a formula that lends itself to great storytelling, giving rise to a host of adapted series, including Hulu's "The Dropout," in which Amanda Seyfried portrays the infamous downfall of Theranos executive Elizabeth Holmes. Despite "WeCrashed's" predictable story structure, however, the magnetism of its protagonists makes it an entrancing car crash you can't look away from.

Leto's version of Adam Neumann is strangely compelling. Played like the lovechild of infamous director Tommy Wiseau, Steve Jobs, and Charles Manson, Leto uncannily renders Neumann's messianic persona. Complete with unblinking eyes and a geographically-obscure accent, Leto bottles Neumann's unique brand of charismatic fairy dust as he pitches WeWork as a tech and seeking "to elevate the world's consciousness." "WeCrashed" confronts viewers with an unfortunate truth: a man who demands the world be served to him to the tune of Katy Perry's "Roar," is a compelling watch.

What sets the series apart is Hathaway's searing portrayal of Rebekah. Its emotional touchstone, WeWork's Chief Branding Officer reminds viewers that these corporate disaster tales are defined by their characters' insecurities. In following the relationship between Adam and Rebekah, "WeCrashed" transforms from a story of runaway spending into a tragedy about two deeply flawed people urgently trying to force the world to endorse their own wishful views of themselves. Inspiring incredulity, embarrassment, and pathos with equal measure, the couple spends eight episodes attempting to actualize their own mythologies. As such, the show's greatest strength is in portraying the deep emotional fractures beneath this veneer of social and economic invincibility.

Watching "WeCrashed" is an exercise in schadenfreude perfect for the summer streaming slate. Much akin to the thrills of reality television, viewers are awestruck by the brazenness of the Neumann's lies, parties, and platitudes. Those allergic to secondhand embarrassment are forewarned: "WeCrashed" is ripe with it. Often, the series feels like watching the class clown attempting to bluff their way through a school project, all while knowing that the evaluators aren't buying it.

Of course, eventually, the bill comes due. From the opening scenes, we're aware of the end costs of Adam's scheming. As such, the tension of the show isn't whether WeWork will succeed, but rather, whether the Neumanns are actually buying their own snake-oil. Like many scammers before them, Adam and Rebekah eventually discover the fragility of a world founded solely on the grandiosity of their own ambition. The duo exemplify the consequences of Silicon Valley's runaway growth-at-all-costs culture. 

Unfortunately, the show also illustrates how the powerful are insulated from their own recklessness. Adam left WeWork a billionaire. He continues to helm a $2.5 billion real estate venture, lives in a lavish Miami mansion, and regularly waxes poetic about his business empire. Likewise, Rebekah recently announced that she would expand her private school SOLFL. Meanwhile, thousands of employees were fired, investors lost billions, and WeWork filed for bankruptcy.  Ultimately, "WeCrashed" is less a horror story than a tequila-fueled heist. The iniquity of this conclusion is paralleled in the show's ending, which sports potentially the most absurd final scene in television history. Like Rebekah in its waning moments, viewers are likely to leave "WeCrashed" weeping for "The money! The money!" lost by the Neumanns' unchecked audacity.