It’s common to see teens dreaming up get-rich-quick schemes in many young adult genres, but Netflix’s FAKES offers a thrilling tale of two besties.
Zoe Christensen (Emilija Baranc) and Rebecca Li (Jennifer Tong) are two 17-year-old best friends looking for a great way to earn some money and come up with a great idea: Forgery.
The two embark on a forgery scheme of selling fake IDs, building a whole business from the scheme- and ultimately losing it.
Unfortunately, they fly too close to the sun, and after moving into a downtown penthouse in Vancouver, they’re apprehended by federal agents.
In Zoe’s words, “Yeah, this is as bad as it looks, and trust me, it just gets worse.”
Each episode of the series flips between the friends’ perspectives, muddying up the details and making this a bit of a mystery as well as a crime comedy.
Watch Netflix’s FAKES trailer
The trailer opens up with two girls walking down a high school hallway before flashing to their penthouse, where the party is crashed by feds.
Shortly after, the trailer shows the two coming up with their scheme, some of the work they put in, and the financial and legal trouble they find themselves in as a result.
The trailer shows flashes of one of them in jail as they go from regular teenagers to major criminal status.
As for Emilija and Jennifer, they’re hoping that fans will be able to connect with the characters and are ready for things to get messy.
What can viewers expect from FAKES?
Bustle reports that Emilija and Jennifer have some hopes and advice for FAKES viewers before it arrives on Netflix.
“Hopefully, audiences will resonate with the characters in some capacity, whether they see their experiences represented or being reminded of that one friend they haven’t heard from in a while and feeling inspired to reach out,” Emilijia notes, adding that she hopes viewers can relate to the characters’ “complex and messy” sides.
Jennifer simply notes, “What audiences can expect and get excited for is for s**t to get f***ed.”
Jennifer also adds that FAKES is “equal parts comedy and drama, heartwarming and heartbreaking, and just a whole lot of fun.”
For Jennifer, there was a lot of fun to be had, as she’s able to give a new twist on Rebecca as a Chinese high school student.
“It’s not about her being Asian,” Jennifer revealed. “She rebels against the typical stereotypes that are pushed onto Chinese women and is a fully-fleshed out character with unbelievable charms and fatal flaws.”
FAKES premieres on September 2, 2022, on Netflix.