Synopsis: Whitney Wolfe Herd rises from recent graduate to pioneering entrepreneur, overcoming sexism and industry resistance as she creates Bumble, a dating app that reimagines how people connect.
Director: Rachel Lee Goldberg
Stars: Lily James, Dan Stevens, Ben Schnetzer
Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s Swiped sets out to dramatize the turbulent rise of Whitney Wolfe Herd, co‑founder of Tinder and founder of Bumble, but the film ultimately struggles to balance biography with cultural critique. Premiering at TIFF, the movie inevitably invites comparisons to David Fincher’s The Social Network. Yet while that film captured the ruthless ambition and moral ambiguity of Silicon Valley with razor‑sharp precision, Swiped never quite achieves the same level of narrative sophistication or thematic bite.
The story follows Wolfe Herd (played by Lily James) as she navigates the toxic culture of Tinder’s early days, her subsequent lawsuit against the company, and her eventual creation of Bumble. Goldenberg’s direction emphasizes the sexism and hostility Wolfe Herd faced, and the performances—particularly James’s—bring authenticity to the workplace harassment sequences. Dan Stevens, Myha’la, and Jackson White round out the cast with energy, portraying the tech world’s mix of charisma and cruelty. Still, the film often feels torn between two narratives: the drama of Wolfe Herd’s departure from Tinder and the inspirational arc of Bumble’s founding. The result is uneven pacing, with Bumble’s creation rushed into the final act.
Where The Social Network succeeded was in making its central figure, Mark Zuckerberg, both fascinating and unsettling. Swiped doesn’t give Wolfe Herd the same narrative weight. Instead of fully celebrating her achievements—becoming the youngest female CEO to take a company public, reshaping online dating with a female‑first approach—the film spends most of its runtime on the toxic Tinder environment. Wolfe Herd’s triumphs feel like an afterthought, which is disappointing given how groundbreaking her career has been. The film gestures toward empowerment but doesn’t do enough to highlight Wolfe Herd’s resilience, innovation, and leadership in tech.
Visually, Goldenberg opts for a glossy, straightforward style. The cinematography captures the manic energy of startup culture but lacks the stylistic flair that made The Social Network so compelling. The score by Chanda Dancy adds emotional resonance, yet the film’s structure undermines its impact. By the time Bumble enters the narrative, the audience is left wanting more—more detail, more celebration, more recognition of Wolfe Herd’s role in reshaping the industry.
Ultimately, Swiped is watchable and occasionally powerful, but it doesn’t fully deliver on its promise. It will inevitably be compared to The Social Network, and in that comparison, it falls short. Most frustrating is its failure to adequately promote Whitney Wolfe Herd’s successes. Her story is one of the most inspiring in modern tech, yet the film spends too much time on the toxicity she escaped rather than the empire she built.
For viewers hoping to see a thoughtful exploration of dating app culture and a celebration of Wolfe Herd’s achievements, Swiped leaves much to be desired.
Grade: C-
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