1 of 5 | Whitney Wolfe (Lily James) develops Tinder and Bumble in "Swiped," on Hulu Sept. 19. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- In the tradition of movies like Blackberry and Air, the new film Swiped, on Hulu Sept. 19, chronicles the development of dating apps Tinder and Bumble. Unfortunately, this biopic collapses under the unwieldy themes connected with those apps.
Swiped opens in 2012 as Whitney Wolfe (Lily James) pitches tech CEOs an app to connect volunteers with orphanages. Cardify founder Sean Rad (Ben Schnetzer) isn't interested in the idea but hires Whitney to be his marketing director.
Cardify's parent company is also working on a dating app. Whitney comes up with the name Tinder and a plan to get 20-somethings to use it, but she discovers toxic environments both on the app and in her workplace.
Swiped is bookended by two disclaimers stating that, though inspired by actual events, the film is fictionalized for dramatic purposes. Neither are necessary, as it's unlikely any viewer could mistake the shoehorning of key events into a Hollywood narrative as factual.
