What's Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons About?

As the owner of Victoria's Secret, along with brands like The Limited and Bath & Body Works, Les Wexner beame one of the wealthiest and most influential businessmen in America. But his deep ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, along with the public's rejection of a beauty standard that Victoria's Secret embodied, would ultimately diminish his reputation, if not his fortune.

Who's involved?

• Director Matt Tyrnauer continues his exploration of American power, after helming the 2019 doc Where's My Roy Cohn and Showtime's four-parter The Reagans.
• The interviewees, including several former Victoria's Secret models and executives, make thorough and incisive arguments about what Wexner's world has done (and is doing) to society.

Why (and to whom) do we recommend it?

Whereas Netflix's recent documentary about the collapse of Abercrombie & Fitch succeeded by staying tightly focused on the cultural implications of that brand, Angels and Demons uses Victoria's Secret as the entry point for a vast number of subjects.

Really, it has no choice: Les Wexner was so powerful that he essentially created the town of New Albany, Ohio by himself. In the early 90s, he ceded power of attorney over his fortune to Jeffrey Epstein and even sold Epstein the plane that he used to traffic underage girls into the country. And yes, Wexner also insisted that Victoria's Secret promote a prurient male fantasy of female sexuality. If it's going to feel complete, the series has to consider all of this.

Tyrnauer not only spins a clear story from this mess of misdeeds, but also makes shrewd points about what Wexner's particular behavior says about America's billionaire class. It understands that the powerful are still powerful, no matter who stops buying Victoria's Secret lingerie, while demanding more transparency from the mega-rich few who shape the world.

Pairs well with

• Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, Matt Tyrnauer's jaw-dropping 2017 documentary about another hidden world: the network of gay hustlers who serviced the most famous men in golden age Hollywood. (Streams on Hulu.)
• Halt and Catch Fire, AMC's four-season drama offered a palate-cleansing depiction of business innovators mostly trying to be decent people. (Streams on AMC+.)
• LuLaRich, another docuseries about a problematic women's fashion company, only this one was more like a cult. (Streams on Prime Video.)