Biographical dramas should stroll a superb line. They must carry the true story of a real-life particular person to the display, with its fictional gildings, after all, and make it worthwhile and fascinating to observe. Swiped, about Bumble founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd (Lily James), does a few of that significantly effectively. There’s by no means a uninteresting second within the movie, particularly for many who aren’t as conversant in her story.
Director Rachel Lee Goldenberg — who co-wrote the script with Invoice Parker and Kim Caramele — explores greater than Wolfe’s rise within the tech business. It’s daring sufficient to delve into her misogynistic therapy by males, in addition to her personal therapy of ladies who had been decrease than her on the tech ladder. Swiped spends nearly all of its time following Whitney’s time at Tinder, the courting app that famously employed the swipe proper/left person operate.
She joins because the vp of promoting and works onerous to push Tinder on school campuses. A giant a part of the app’s success is attributed to her, and it isn’t lengthy earlier than she’s made co-founder by the start-up’s head, Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer) — a lot to the dissatisfaction of her aggressively jealous boyfriend and fellow co-founder Justin (Inform Me Lies’ Jackson White, completely suited to the function), who treats her so horribly that it drives her out of the corporate. This leads her to work with Andrey Andreev (Dan Stevens), the top of Badoo, one other courting app.
Swiped Is not A Important Biopic, However It Will get Its Level Throughout
That each one sounds easy, and it’s, and Swiped embraces the semi-feel-good route, not in contrast to Flamin’ Sizzling, one other Hulu biopic that follows the alleged inventor of Flamin’ Sizzling Cheetos. Goldenberg takes some liberties with the story, particularly since Wolfe Herd was nonetheless beneath a non-disclosure settlement after submitting a lawsuit for sexual harassment. The actual stress comes from Whitney’s risky relationship with Justin, who reveals his disdain for the eye she will get — outdoors and throughout the firm. It’s uncomfortable to observe as Whitney manages his outbursts, and the movie is nice at underscoring how that impacts her work setting.
I appreciated that the biopic tried to have conversations about privilege, intersectional feminism, and the sexist conduct that girls can exhibit if it means getting forward. It’s solely when the misogyny begins affecting Whitney’s skill to work that she takes situation with it, one thing Tish (Myha’la), her buddy and coworker, brings up later within the movie. These conversations are merely surface-level, nonetheless, scratching the floor of larger points. However a minimum of the movie doesn’t neglect them, constructing towards a pleasant full-circle ending that addresses such issues.
Wolfe Herd’s blind spots are highlighted, which makes for a extra fascinating movie than your common biopic. It isn’t very deep, and every little thing results in an ending that ties issues up too neatly. And but there may be sufficient buildup to justify Whitney’s huge second. I didn’t stroll away from the movie feeling like I knew Wolfe Herd very effectively, however I understood her and the place she was coming from.
What the movie captures curiously effectively is the millennial thought of graduating from school, attempting to alter the world, and doing one thing extra significant than an everyday job would possibly present. It obliterates that concept, as Whitney needed to assist orphans and ended up engaged on courting apps as a substitute. It’s a disgrace, then, that the movie barely explores that sense of disappointment that comes with dealing with the fact of working.
The biopic opts for a easy strategy and doesn’t deviate an excessive amount of from it. Had the movie explored its themes and Wolfe Herd’s life a bit additional, we might have gotten one thing extra complicated. There’s a lot to say in regards to the tech business and its rampant misogyny, in addition to intersectional feminism. And whereas the movie doesn’t deal with it with the nuance it deserves, the actual fact it’s a giant plot level is an efficient begin.
All informed, Swiped is a standard, even hopeful biopic. Lily James is nice within the lead function, as is the supporting solid. The movie loosely employs Wolfe Herd’s profession — for higher and worse — and what we get is a dramatized model of the story that might not be revelatory, however would possibly make you are feeling good regardless.
Swiped premiered on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant. It is going to be out there to steam on Hulu on September 19.
Swiped
6/10
- Launch Date
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September 19, 2025
- Director
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Rachel Lee Goldenberg
- Writers
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Kim Caramele, Rachel Lee Goldenberg, Invoice Parker
- Producers
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Andrew Panay, Jennifer Gibgot, Lily James
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Lily James
Whitney Wolfe Herd
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