TIFF 2025: Swiped Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Co-written and directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg, Swiped is inspired by the true story of Whitney Wolfe, the visionary founder of the online dating platform Bumble. The story follows Wolfe (James), a recent college grad who, through extraordinary grit and ingenuity, breaks into the male-dominated tech industry. Overcoming sexism and industry resistance, she launched the globally lauded dating app Bumble, becoming the youngest female self-made billionaire. With an undeniably fascinating true story at its center and another game performance from Lily James, though the film may be a little middling as a whole and be better suited as a miniseries, rather than a feature film, for how it attempts to cover so much material over the course of its sub 2-hour runtime.

All that being said, James is definitely the main reason to watch Swiped, as she delivers yet another commanding performance as Wolfe. She brings so much charm, humour, and a vulnerability to Wolfe that it is borderline impossible not to root for her, in spite of her flaws. Despite its struggles, James is its one saving grace, keeping the film still very watchable. Meanwhile, White and Ben Schnetzer do a good job at playing over-the-top tech bros who border on cartoonish which is unfortunate considering that guys like them sadly exist all over the world and in the tech industry. On the other hand, it is an absolute delight to see Dan Stevens pop up in anything and to his credit, he is a lot of fun here in limited screen time as Andrey.

While an easy film to get through, delivering decent, fast-paced entertainment, it is not enough to make up for the fact that is merely another paint-by-numbers biopic. Though the film features a fascinating true story at its core, it is told in the most formulaic way. It feels like a film you’ve seen countless times before in the recent years, and it feels that way because it doesn’t do a single thing new and follows the same formula as countless others in this crowded genre. Ultimately, the biggest disappointment of all is how the film is billed as one about the creation of Bumble but is nowhere near its primary focus. Rushing through the so called greatest hits of Wolfe’s life, much of its elements feel rushed through or underdeveloped in its cramming of so much over a short period of time. As a result, because of how quickly it jumps from plot point to plot point, the film barely has enough time to dive too deep into any of themes it explores such as sexism, toxic workplaces, and dating apps, amongst several others.

In the end, Swiped may be a little middling as a film but those interested in the true story or those looking for another great Lily James performance, it will hit the right spot. A biopic that is both too short and rushed to properly dive into its themes and effectively do its subject matter justice, in spite of its flaws, remains a watchable and decently entertaining effort that could have been so much more.

still courtesy of 20th Century Studios

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/