‘Who Is Ghislaine Maxwell?’ Review: A Cursory Look At The Infamous Socialite That Fails To Answer Its Titular Question

Playing out more like a compelling but ultimately cursory Wikipedia entry than a full-throated exposé, Starz’s newest documentary series “Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?” may be one of the better dives into the socialite-turned-Epstein-accomplice, but it never really answers its own titular question. More polished, and less salacious, than the other two Maxwell series — Peacock’s “Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell” and Paramount+’s “Ghislaine: Partner in Crime” — Starz’s series spends a bit more time on Maxwell’s life before meeting Epstein and after his arrest, for better and worse. 

Organized into three episodes, the Erica Gornall-directed series uses its first hour “Queen Bee” to track Maxwell’s relationship with her father, the media mogul Robert Maxwell. That relationship in many ways portends the odd dynamic she would have with Epstein — imagining herself a partner to her father, but mainly working in his looming shadow. Using various college friends and co-workers, the episode builds a portrait of an outgoing socialite who could manipulate others into doing her bidding.

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The second episode, “Hidden in Plain Sight” dives into her relationship with Epstein, using interviews with his house managers, massage therapists, and sexual assault survivors to craft a portrait of the intricate operation that Maxwell created. The best of the three, this episode is also the hardest to watch, as people like Christina Oxenberg, Maria Farmer, and Chauntae Davies recount how Maxwell manipulated and coerced them. Details about Maxwell cruising around the streets of New York or Florida trailer parks and stopping to give her number to various underage girls are not only sickening but showcase her own arrogance. These details are juxtaposed against videos and pictures that show Epstein and Maxwell with all levels of celebrity – Clinton, Trump, Prince Andrew, etc.

Finally, the third episode, “The Reckoning” appropriately tracks the downfall of Epstein and Maxwell’s own attempts to escape justice, including her efforts to rebrand herself as an activist and environmentalist with her TerraMar project. While Maxwell’s courtroom drama is addressed here — mainly through narration by ‘Law & Crime’ editor Adam Klasfeld — the trial feels like an afterthought for a show that is much more interesting in exploring how Maxwell came into her position alongside Epstein than the ramifications of that relationship. 

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While the docuseries commendably doesn’t tread the same ground as the other aforementioned series about Maxwell, it also jams so much information into three episodes that we get an incomplete picture of who Ghislaine Maxwell really was. And while there is an overabundance of content dedicated to Epstein, he oddly is treated as a peripheral character in this narrative. Their relationship might be the driving force of why a series about her exists, but the second episode is really the only one that dives into their relationship with any substance. 

Further, most of the details are culled from other sources with only a few interviews —Farmer, Davies, and Epstein’s private island managers Cathy and Miles Alexander — feeling revelatory. The other information is parceled out from news clips, Dateline interviews, etc. which make the entire series feel more like an annotated bibliography than a fully realized portrait of its subject. 

With Maxwell’s twenty-year sentence for sex trafficking minors being handed down recently, “Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?” is probably just enough to satisfy those who’ve only heard her name in connection to Epstein, know little about the case against her, or even less about her upbringing and family. For others, however, the doc covers all-too-familiar ground without presenting anything particularly insightful to warrant the three-hour runtime. [C]

“Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?” is available now on Starz.